The Good The Bad And The Slimy
by master.solomon
Summary: Doctor Aphra killed someone she shouldn't and now one crime lord from Nar Shaddaa hired a bounty hunter to take her down. Will Aphra survive another bounty hunter or maybe death will finally caught her? M for blood, tortures, occasional swearing. English no first language Don't like? Don't read. Be Happy.


The Good. The Bad. And the Slimy.

Nar Shaddaa. The Hutt Syndicate Secret Office.

In the biggest and highest skyscrapers on the moon were a room for the most powerful crime-lords on the Narshaad. In this room, the Hutts crime lord have done many terrible, important and sometimes good decision. This time in on of these rooms,the Great Narra the Hut. The Queen of the smugglers and the most beautiful Hutt in the whole Galaxy was about to do something terrible.

Like every Hutt in the Galaxy. Narra knew that old antics are a good way to keep credits on the bank count. They are expensive and the inflation is not doing anything with their price. She also knew that there is a lot of madmen who want to have some of her precious toys, so she was keeping them safe in her best and the most protected palace.

Few day ago, very infamous thief, and scavenger who not only stolen her precious treasures, but also killed her best guardsmen, destroyed her best palace and blowed up her best starships she was keeping in that palace. But thats is nothing. The guards were not expensive and there is a lot more of scums who can work for her, the palace was old, too small for her liking and could use some painting, she never really cared much about credits, she have thousands of way to get ten time more than that filthy schutta stolen. The Great Narra could just put a price on her head and forget focus on more important things on her head.

But that human Pagona did something much worse than just killing her best warriors and destroying her home. She did the worst thing she could possibly do. Something unforgivable. Something what she will never forget.

,, **SHE KILLED FIFFI!** " Great Narra the Hutt yelled with her eyes full of tears and half bitten, half alive, lizard like animal in her mouth. When she heard that her favorite pet was brutally and mercilessly killed, her heart broke into a millions tiny pieces of pain and grief. She've spend last two weeks in her luxfully apartment on Naar Shaada, scrying, eating and watching her and Fiffi's portraits on the walls to make her feel better. But that don't work. The more she think about her little baby the more she want to cry her soul out. But there is one thing what can kill this pain.

,,Yes. As the Great Narra the Hutt, Lady of Naar Shaad and Mistress of Crime said. That woman dared to murder the Great Narra's favorite pet." An old twi'lek dressed in dark gold, long and very expensive robe like thing said showing a hologram of pink, very big and very, but very fat dog.

,,A dog?" A man, dressed in a dark gray heavy greatcoat, with armor on his forearms and shins, with high military boots and with long range DLT-20A blaster rifle on his back, 434 blaster pistol in right hostel on his hips, few grenades hanging on his belt and a dark helmet under his arm, asked watching a disgusting picture in front of him.

,, **FIFFI WAS NOT A DOG**! It was my sweet baby! My precious little one! My only child!" The Great Narra yelled at the bounty hunter while 'drinking' corellian wine and throwing another poor animal into her mouths.

,,But my lady. You still have four young, strong and smart sons. Not to mention twelve daughters who..." A pink protocol droid, standing next to the Great Narra the Hutt tried to said how many other children The Great Lady have, but he was brutally stopped by a punch in the head from his mistress.

,,I'm a mother without a child. BUUHHUUHUU!" The Great Narra yelled in a break between eating tons of different food and crying her tail off, knocking the innocent droid who was just standing too close when she exploded with another wave of grief and pain.

,,Fiffi was not just a dog. She was a full blood Corellian hound. One of the most expensive kind of dogs in the history of Galaxy. She was worth more that your worthless life bounty hunter." The same twilek said to the man who was still not really looking like it was meaning anything for him.

,,It doesn't look like the grief have spoiled the Great Narra's appetite." The man said watching gross scene in front of him and being happy that he did not eat anything before this meeting. Hutts have many advantages. They are smart, durable, long-lived, but the table manners are not one of them.

,,I'm trying to fill the void in my heart, where Fiffi once " The Great Narra said waiting for another waiter to bring her another plate of living snacks and large portions of space ice creams and desserts.

,,Yeach? If she was so precious. Why are you hiring me?" The man asked. He is not stupid, he know that he is not that good to be called by that important persons like Hutts. Not alone at least, usually he is taking a small, quiet contracts with no option that a big players like Boba Fett or so, will kill you to make a job is what every smart bounty hunter is doing when just want to live a bit longer than others. To be called by the Hutts is something new, and something not good.

,,You see. Every Hutt lords has they own pet, their pets are a symbols of their power and wealth. Fiffi was the bigger champion in decades. She was the symbol of the most powerful Hutt Mistress in the Hutt Space. If anyone would find out that the Nal Hutta's champion is dead.. It would be a humiliation for the Great Narra." The twilek with gold on probably every part of his body said showing on the hologram how big and 'magnificent' the fat dog was, with this slime-covered tongue and sweaty like hell body. Hutts are so screwed up specie, but they pay well.

,,So you are sending a second rated bounty hunter to not make anyone asking why the best one is hunting some low profile thief." The bounty hunter said to the twilek while observing how another plate of living food disappeared from the table.

''I wish I could send the best bounty hunter. But no one can ever know that Fiffi died such horrible way. Oh! Show him Jixs Maybe then he will understand." The Great Narra said in the great lady like voice, pointing one of her fat hands at the holo projector and covering her eyes with the second hand, while holding a screaming larva covered in a sugar.

Jinx, who was this golden asses twile, listened to the order and activated a not really well working holo security cameras record from some tropical planet. The holo movies showed a very big and probably expensive palace, half on fire and half dilapidated. The dead bodies of a guardsmen of different species were showing a way the attacked had chose to get inside of the palace.

The dead bodies led the camera to the massive room where was a lot of piles of the golden credits, a lot of old monuments, works of art, jewels bigger than humans, and a lot of dead bodies around them.

At the top of the biggest pile of credits was lying a large, fat and wet dog who was almost three time bigger, and hundred time fatter than the person who was watching him. The woman in the room was trying not to throw up her last meat while one dark protocolar looking droid, was pretty much, draining the blood out of a half dead Gamorrean guard. There was also two other persons in the room, one of them was looking just like an astromech droid, but with at least four lasers cannons and few other blasters, and missiles, and who know what else on him. The second one was a dark wookie, the dark wookie who everybody know. Black Krrsantan, the second most recognizable wookie in this Galaxy. That can't be good.

After a few seconds of speaking something to the droids, the woman pointed her blaster at 'Fiffi' and shoot three time right into the dog's head. The blood was just everywhere and the dogs brain formed a lake of blood and organs what makes the dark protocolar droid looking very happy from some reason.

Then, the woman said something to the wookie while walking away to another room, probably looking for something important for her. The cameras were not following the woman, they all were observing the wookie who was walking slowly to the dead body of once whole dog. And then he did what you could never expect from a wookie, from any sentient specie. The black wookie started to eat the dead body of fat corellian hound, but that was not eating it, he was tearing the meat apart, washing his face with the dog's blood, smashing the internal organs and at the end, he ate the dog's fat hears like an apple.

When he was done, there was no dog, no corp or an organ left. There was just blood and dog's internal fluids on the fool, credits and exactly everything in the room. That was a bloody bath who the droids were watching with pleasure.

,,Oh. I can't watch any longer. Turn it off!" The Great Narra the Hutt said when the worst part of the show was over. The bounty hunter who before was looking like he was not interested in being in this room, now was looking more like someone who was to lost his meat, but he stayed cool.

,,Black wookie, one murderous protocol droid and one armory on wheels. There is only one person in the galaxy who's playing in this team. You want me to kill...

,,Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra. And not to kill. You have to bring her alive. Lady Narra wants to see her suffer before death.." The twilek who just lost his breakfast after watching the video, finished the bounty hunter's sentence changing the holo-record to a holo-picture of a human female in age between 20 and 30.

Well. That suck. He may not be the best, but there is no fool in the galaxy who don't know who Doctor Aphra is. That woman may have more kills on her count that he has and if the short description next to her holo-head is not lying, she for sure is a dangerous and smart as hell. Only an idiot or a madman could possibly agree to take this contract. Killing her is probably impossible, bringing her alive will take a miracle to do.

,,Half million for death. One millions for alive." The bounty hunter said turning his eyes out from the holo-picture to, now not crying Hutt lady who now was staring at him with her eyes wide open.

When he said that, everybody, even the animal that Narra was holding in the hands and putting into her mouths, turned their heads too look at him with their eyes wide open and jaws hitting the floor. The bounty hunter is not entirely sure what surprised them more, the price he said, or this that he actually agreed to do it.

,,Mister Armorigen. With all due respect but you can'tbe serious. That is much too high price for hiring someone of your kind." The golden ass twilek said, collecting his jaw from the floor, chuckling a bit and thinking that the bounty hunter was kidding. He was not.

,,The woman is dangerous. The Wookie and droids will protect her what make this job even more difficult. That is the cheaper you can get from anyone." The bounty hunter said turning his head to the pissed off twi'lek. The tension between the two of them could be seen, and cut by the vibroblade. The twilek for sure doesn't like the bounty hunter and the bounty hunter also doesn't him.

,,Money doesn't matter. Just bring me her alive. I want to see her dying. For my little, cute, innocent Fiffi." The Great Narra said after a moment of silence. But she was different now. She was not crying and she did not bit,drink or hit anything while she was talking to him. She was more sober than before.

,,Half of million now. The rest after the job is done." The bounty hunter said while studying the hutt's new emotional state. A moment before, she was crying her heart off and now she was again in the crime lord mod. It is not a good sight.

,,Pay him Jixs. And get to the work. I want to see her, kneeling in front of me in three days." The Great Narra for sure was feeling much better now. There was no pain and grief in her voice anymore, but hate and anger. 'Money doesn't matter' Yeach. There is no Hutt in the Galaxy who ever meant that, and there won't be any.

The bounty hunter did not needed anything more. He simply bowed a bit to the Great Narra, turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the hutt crime lord and the golden twilek alone. For a moment there was only a silent in the room, the only sounds were the screams of dying animals who Narra the Hutt was eating.

,,Your ladyship. Are you really going to pay him this ridiculously high price? The chances that he will accomplish his task don't even let us hope about seeing Doctor Aphra dead not to say alive." The twilek needed a moment to brace himself to say anything. The Great Narra was not know for patience and generosity. And one million credits is too much even for her to pay for a simple bounty. She jst lost half million credits, and if he will success, she will also lost the second half. But the schutta have to die. Of course.

,,Call the Bounty Hunter's Guild. Tell them that there is a bounty for Doctor Aphra's head. Open contract, 250,000 credits of reward. Dead or Alive." The Great Narra the Hutt said while smiling from one ear-hole to another. Jixs understood what she was thinking about and left the room to call the Guild master.

The chances than a bounty hunter with number 15 is going to kill a wookie who is one of the best 10 bounty hunters in years, and two most dangerous droids in the history of this Galaxy are against him, and even if he will successe and bring the Schuttal alive, she will have to pay him another half of a million credits more. But let just say that he will do that, somehow. That he will capture her for a moment, or disarm her at least. He will never made it back to Naar Shaddaa alive with her. No one will, not alone, but an army of bounty hunters for sure will. It will be some scum with more luck that skills who will kill him that's for sure, but at least she will save a 250, 000 credits and with a bit of luck, get Fiffi's killer alive. Oh. It's so good to be a Hutt.

24 Hours Later. Unknown Sector of the Galaxy/ 48 hours, 30 minutes and 54 seconds left to bring Doctor Aphra's head to Nal Hutta

Every bar has the best tabel. And the best tables always are for some important guys, a crime lords, bounty hunter, assassins or a politicians. Nothing strange that Aphra wanted to sit right there. When she walked to the bar, she saw that that was the only free and clean tabel. The only problem were two tall Weequays guards, but when you have two murderous droids with you, and one blood thirsty wookie, these things don't bother you anymore.

,,That was a damn good day. I think he really believed that we will let him live." Doctor Aphra said to the dark protocolar doing and a dark grommy looking wookie, who was sitting next to her. She was drinking something what was suppose to be a Corellian wine, but that for sure was not Corellian wine. Her companions did not ordered anything, the droinds didn't, because they are droids and they have more interesting things to do, like poisoning every single customers in this bar.

You guys have no idea by what Aphra had been through to get Triple Zero and BT-1 again under her control. After that insane action she did to find his memories and all other crazy things she was expecting to die. But luck is on her side and she again have two most deadly robots at her service. And the revenge was sweet. Triple Zero will think twice next time when he will even think about messing with her again. She should probably destroy him to make sure that he will not try to, kill every organic life in the galaxy, but she never was that reasonable, and say whatever you want about him, but he still is nice piece of technology If they only could be more social with her. But there always is the wookie who will kill her if she will not be useful for him or try to not pay him for his job.

,,I guess that it is just you and me Krrsantan." Doctor said to her last dead looking wookie. Since Triple-Zero's little, modifications, Krrsantan become more, wild. Not like that wookie are not wild enough, but he become almost a mindless killing machine. He stopped to eat and drink normal food, the only thinks what could stop his bloodlust was...pretty much blood and dead of everyone around him. Aphan is not sure how long she can keep him from not killing her, she need to choose her words very carefully around him now.

,,I mean. We got the credits from the guy, stolen the thing we were suppose to steal for him, and get a pretty good credits for his corp. I think that it is what normal people call a 'Good Day'.'' She is lying. She doesn't know what the good day is, and what normal people think a good day is. She never was normal, everybody know that. But that's good, normal people usually die a horrible way she is alive only thanks it that she is not normal. She is a horrible person, and she like it.

Eee. That's not time to think about it .It is time for relax. She come here to sit, drink something good and forget about the Galaxy around, maybe she even will find more living company, thank kind of company with who you can talk, drink or at least stare at their attitudes. Maybe she really will have a good day tonight.

,,DOCTOR APHRA. You will with us on your legs or we will drag you to our ship ." Some stupid and guy with two big trandoshans with heavy blaster rifles yelled, pointing his skinny hand at Doctors Aphra's back while she was just simply relaxing herself, with her eyes close and her feets on the table.

Not willing to do it. But she raised from her seat and turned to the small idiot who want to die. It was a small weequay guy, really small runt in her opinion, with two overgrow trandoshans bodyguards. Nothing what could possibly worry her.

,,It is the worst flirt I ever heard in my you I will make womankind a favor." Aphra said crossing her arms and watching the three opponents pointing her blasters at her. In any different circumstance she would be concern about that. But with mindless wookie warrior and two blood crazy droids. Meh. One crime lord less, and the bartender for sure will find another guy to terrorize this place.

,,Your head is worth a lot of credits I could use. Don't try any trick and maybe you will survive next hours." The weequays said while trying to look dangerous with this tiny blaster in his hand. But that what he said actually surprised her. Her head is worth a lot, but usually when is attached to the rest of her body. The fact that someone want only her head is not good.

,,She will not come with you pirate scums. This credits are mine." Another one. The bounty must be good if more than one bounty hunter is hunting her down. That one was a human man, with a few sidekick flying battle robots.

,,The only one who will take that credits is me." Next one! How many bounty hunters is on this kriffing planet. And more important question how they knew where she is right now? She never tell anyone where she may or may not be. She for sure doesn't have a tracker and Dark Angel is impossible to locate. Someone sold her out.

,,I don't know about what credits are you talking about, but that schutta who sit at my favorite tablet die tonight." Oh great. The tablet owner have got an information that someone is sitting at his could not choose a worse time.

That was supposed to be a nice day. She just stolen one very old antic, get a lot of credits and found a space bar where there are a clean glasses. And now she is standing in the middle of the bar, with a wall behind her, a bounty hunter blocking a back way out of her, second one blocking the window she could use to escape, third one at the opposite side of the room and about ten gangs men standing in the front doors.

,,Hey. Easy boys. There is no need for this to get bloody. Let my friend here explain you this." Aphra said smiling maliciously with her head up waiting for them to shit their pants at the sight of the big bad and black wookie warrior behind her.

So she wait. And wait a bit longer. And still wait, but there is nothing happening. There is no shadow of a wookie on the floor and there is no sound of hungry wookie's snarls. Aphra and everyone i the room turned around to look at the tablet where was sitting a wookie. There was nothing odd, beside of this that he had his face on the tablets top.

,,Give us a moment please." Aphra said smiling nervously now. She walked closer to Krrsantan and poked him in the arm. She started to worry a bit when he did not reacted. She grabbed the top of his head furr and raised his head from the tablet to look at his face. The only thing she got was a long, loud and not smelling nice snore of like dead sleeping wookie. She dropped his head and he hit the table, but he still did not wake up.

,,Master Aphra. Are you in need of assistance?" Triple Zero said while walking with BT-1 from one end of the room to a place where the blaster fire will be the most efficient and spectacular. Aphan never was expecting to be glad a the sound of his voice, but for now his voice was the most wonderful sound in the Galaxy.

,,Just kill them already!" Aphra yelled when she flipped the tablet over, to make some cover for herself and the sleeping wookie. She know that Triple-Zero and BT-1 don't need anything more to start a hell of fire, missile and blaster shoots. Lucky for her and Krrsantan the tablet was pretty durable like for the shitty bar like this. She was not watching but she could that BT-1 was not messing around.

After a few bloody and loud second, everyone in the bar, not only a bounty hunters but civilians also were dead, and half of the bar was set on fire. But there still were some survivors who escaped from the bar before Triple-Zero or BT-1 could kill them and now they were shooting at them from the street. But that doesn't matter, What's matter is the fact that now probably everyone on this planet is trying to kill her, BT-1 will stop them for a longer moment but she can't stay here. And she have to carry four hundred and fifty pounds heavy wookie to the Ark Angel II by herself because Triple-Zero will not help her a bit.

It was easy to leave to the bar. Everyone who could possibly stop her were or shooting to BT-1 or were listening to Triple-Zero when he was killing them in a very horrible and painful way. The landing pad where The Ark Angel II waits, is not far away from the bar. That's why she chose that place, she was of course expecting something to screw up, but she was expecting that the droids could kill a bad person, or the wookie could again lost his senses and start a bloody rampage, she was not expecting to be hunting like a desert-rat. Not like that is something new to her.

The problem is. There is no cover around The Ark Angel, and the only way to get to him is by a platform's bridge. She would be a sitting duck for every single bounty hunter even if she was not caring that heavy walking carpet.

,,Master Aphra! Were you planning to leave without us?" Triple-Zero asked while walking away from the blaster shoots way with BT-1 rolling behind him shooting all the time to a new wave of criminals, bounty hunters, planetar security and everyone who were on his blasters way. That was the second time when Aphra was glad to see them this day.

,,Be quiet and cover me." Aphra said when she started again trying move Krrsantan from the floor, and transport him to The Ark Angel II. Triple-Zero was not paying any attention to whatever was happening around them, but BT-1 just killed his last opponent and now he was watching the whole arena around them.

To her surprise, no one was shooting anymore. She was probably the easiest target in the galaxy by now, not even an Imperial stormtrooper could miss a target like a human woman carrying sleeping wookie on her backs, not like she is complaining about that but something feels odd.

When she finally dragged Krrsantan inside the ship. Someone again started to shoot at her, and missed, but it was still too close. Aphra could feel the blaster bolt's heat in her right ear so she was not waiting to see if the shooter will miss again but just ran inside. BT-1 inmeditianlly noticed the shooter. It was a sniper who was inside one of the building on the opposite side from the platform. BT-1 could not really see who it was because he was hide behind the building's window. The sniper cut a hole in the glass for his rifle, so BT-1 shoots could not possibly kill him. Instead of playing the game 'who is the better shooter' BT-1 simply send him a nice small rocked who hit just the place where the sniper rifle's barrel hole was. Triple-Zero said that the explosion was magnificent and that they should go to the ship before Aphra will leave them.

Some time later. The Ark Angel II was far away from that planet where they meet these bounty hunter. The only question now is, who and how poisoned Black Krrsantan. Triple-Zero said that Krrsantan was not injured but in some kind of a short comma. The body scan and the holonet said that he got a 200 milliliters of some new kind of toxin made for wookies. It work fast, quick and is strong like hell, no human could possibly wake up after taking a drop of this shit without an antidotum.. Triple Zero said that it was produced by the Imperials to fight the wookie rebeliants on Kashyyyk. But it looks like the luck is with her today, because it work only few minutes to one hour on wookies, and gives them a terrible headache.

Aphra was sitting in her pilote chair ignoring Black Krrsantan's groans and growl, Triples-Zero comments about relaxing afternoon and BT-1 complaining about leaving too early. She was thinking about something more important than her blood thirst crew's opinions. Someone put a bounty for her head. That's not good. There will be a lot of bounty hunters on her tail if it is a lot of money. Maybe she could use this. Black Krrsantan could say that he caught her, collect the bounty, and BT-1 could use one of his many blaster to make her way out of the prison cell or whatever it would be.

Neeh. It's stupid. Almost everyone in the Galaxy already know that Black Krrsantan is very often working with her and she still own him a lot of credits. No one will believe that he could possibly want to sell her when she own him that many money. So she need to eliminate the guy who want her dead. Kill him will not be a problem. She is having Triple Zero just for that reason. Finding the guy will be a bigger problem. She can't just ask one of her informators because they will send a call to almost every bounty hunter in a sector just to get a small part of the prize. That is stupid, anyway, they probably will not know who set the bounty up, the only guys in the Galaxy who can know it are the bounty hunters who want to catch her now, or the Bounty Hunter's Guild…

THAT'S IT! They for sure know. But that is a suicidal to just walk to the Bounty Hunters Guild's Space Station and ask them politely who wants to kill her. There will be a hundreds, Thousands of bounty hunter looking or waiting for a job. She will be dead in a moment when someone will see her face, even BT-1, Black Krrsantan and Triple-Zero will not kill an entity guild of professional is just crazy.

She likes it.

Few Hours later. The Bounty Hunter Guild Space Station.

Aphra was right. There was a thousands of a small and not too famous bounty hunter just waiting for someone like her to walk into their hands. There was no option that she could possibly fight her way to the archives, not even with a stormtroopers battalion at her side. But she did not needed an army to get what she want. She just need Beetee, and some upgraded proton torpedo who can change this place into a supernova. BT-1 was not willing to carry this, mostly unstable cargo, but he agreed when she told him that the torpedo is disarmed. Probably, she don't remember every torpedo she have on the Ark Angel.

Anyway, now all the four of them were in the main hole waiting for the worker under the tabel to ask them a question. That was reaction of everyone who saw them here, the bounty hunters are dangerous and sometimes clever, but they are mostly about their lives, and they are not that stupid to shoot to the droid who wear a torpedo on his frame.

,,H-hhow I can help you..Mmmmadam?" A very scared secretary who just peed her pants at the sight of a proton torpedo and a mad black wookie asked when she finally raised up from the floor.

,,You can call your boss honey and ask him who wants my head." Aphra said smiling from ear to ear a very scared blondy who was thinking that the metal desk will protect her. Oh, normal people can be hilarus when they are having a heart attacks at the sight of a bombs in front of them.

,,I..i'm sorry madam. But the firm rules prohibit us from telling anyone about our clients identifi...DING DING." The very loyal blonde tried to say something about the company politic when she was interrupted by a call from her ear-comlink. She did not answered it, she was afraid that they will kill her if she do it, but Aphra just shrugged and let her answer the call.

,,The boss is is awaiting you in his cabinet." The blonde secretary said showing them a way to the turbolifts in a wall at the end of the corridor. Aphra was surprised a bit, but she probably should expect that someone who is in charge of a bounty hunter company will know with who he should talk and who shoot in the face. She pushed the button on the panel next to the turbolift but the doors stayed close.

,,Please. Leave your weapons before you enter the turbolifts." A robotic voice from the panel said, opening a small opening in the wall waiting for them to drop their weapons to it. Krrsantan did not said anything but he started growling holding his bowcaster tighter and Triple Zero said that in that case he and BT-1 cannot use the turbolift because they do not have a weapons, they are weapons of mass destruction. But she and Krrsantan need to leave their blasters here.

,,Leave it Krrsantan. It changes nothing anyway." Aphra said when she put her blaster to the box and walked to the turbolift. Krrsantan understood what she meant by that, even without his blaster, there is nothing and no one on this station what could possibly stop him if he will decide to tear this place apart with his bare hands.

Yeach. Aphra know what Krrsantan was thinking, he was right in some way, but she trust BT-1's blasters and assault proton torpedo he is caring more than Black Krrsantan combat skills. How was this saying? 'There's always a bigger fish?". If that's true, Aphra do not want to meet a fish bigger than Black Krrsantan especially now when he is half wild, bloodthirsty monster.

The turbolift ride was quick and no one was stopping them on their way to the Big Boss cabinet. No like anyone wanted to do try. Whoever they meet on their way, bounty hunters and security guys, were or looking for a lace to hid, or were paralyzed from fear. Aphra really likes it when a good plan is working.

Finally, their walked to a large room with a big desk against a wall made of glass, and here was a old looking Quarren man in expensive suit, sitting alone at this desk, waiting for them to come closer. Aphra satt down on a fancy chair at the opposite side from this guy and put her feets on the desk. She knew that it will piss him off, but he for sure have notice Black Krssantan standing on her right, and Triple Zero with BT-1 on her left. Life is sometimes too easy when you have a right companions at your sides.

,,I heard that you want to know who wants to kill you." The Quarren in a suit said ignoring Aphras manners and BT-1 and Triple Zero's comments and threats. Looks like this old bastard know his stuff really well.

,,Nop. It may be anyone I ever meet. I'm particularly interested in the one who put a bounty on my head." Aphra said holding her hands behind her head and watching how the old guy is irritated by her habits of pissing the guys off.

,,I guess that if I will say that I don't know who wants your head, your droid here is gonna to torture this information out of me." The Quarren said turning his head to look at Triple Zero who was already preparing his toxins and needles in his hands.

,,I can assure you that I will do it with great pleasure."Triple Zero said showing off his needles in the most polite and scary way he could possibly do. This droid really does like to put a show.

,,I'm sure about it. Here you go." The Quarren man said when he give her a data pad. The hologram from the pad was showing a fat female Hutt with too much makeup on took her feets off the tablet and started to read an informations.

It was saying that the Bounty has been offered by a Hutt crime lord, Narra the Hutt from Nal Hutta. Great. Hutts. Aphra remember that day when she burned that palace. That fat snail was having an ancient type of humanoid droid from an ancient world where the natives were smarter than anyone in the galaxy is now. She sold that off for parts and kept few interesting modules for herself.

,,That it? Only 250,000 credits. You know? I am a bit disappointed." Aphra said after she read the bounty contract and saw the prize for her head. After everything she did, she was expecting a million at least. That was a nice palace who she burned to the ground not to mention all the credits she stolen. But on the second hand, Hutts always were a cheap kind of bastards so that is not something unexpected their bounties are never really that is nice to know that her body is worth at least quarter of a million.

,,Don't worry. That's only the second contract from first one is more interesting" The Quarren said crossing his arms on his chest, chuckling a bit and smiling like he just saw a twi'lek woman dancing on top of his desk.

,,What the kriff are you talking about?" Aphra said a bit surprised. She never was a bounty hunter and for sure never will, but she is almost sure that two contract cannot coming from one person. Or can? Who can possibly know?

,,You see. Very often, a very cheaps clients, are trying to kill a bounty hunter who is too expensive for them. To do so. They are often offering another bounty for smaller credits to anyone who will kill the hunter. That's why you have more than one hunter on your tail." The suited Quarren said smiling even wide, like he really saw something good for him. Is this a reason why he is the big bounty hunter boss? Because he is more creepy than others. Black Krrsantan looks like a puppy in compare to him.

,,What do you mean? That there is some profesional with a second contract who wants to get his hands on my ass?" Aphra asked throwing the data back to him. Are bounty hunters suppose to have an honor or at least play with the guild rules and not play in they are all a bunch of killers, sociopaths sadists and murderous. Wow. She really could be a great great bounty hunter.

,,Yes. Not the best one but still. There you have all information I have about him. Take it and try not to get blood all over my desk." The Quarren said when he passed her a display disk. The two things are wrong. First, why did he give her that, and second who the hell did he said that last part?

,,Can't promise that. 'Boss'." Someone behind them said, with a sarcastic tone at the end, and with voice muffled like speaking through a comlink or wearing some kind of mask or helmet.

Aphra jumped out from the chair and turned around to see who said that, Triple-Zero, Black Krrsantan and BT-1 did the same, putting the guns out to point them at the guy behind them. It was a tall man, like more than six foot and at least four inchest tall, dressed in a old and ugly greatcoat, wearing a black helmet who was looking like a skull with two pity black eye, pointing a DLT-20A blaster rifle at Aphra's head. In any different circumstance, Aphra maybe would be scared, but now when Triple Zero, Beetee and Krrsantan are in the same room. That hunter is practically dead now.

,,So. You are a dead man who took the contract on me? May I know How much she's paying you to bring me to her?" Aphra said to the bounty hunter crossing arms on her chest, smiling and completely ignoring the fact that his blaster is powerful enough to change her brain into a space dusk.

,,Trade secret little lady. But I can assure you that's a lot of credits." The bounty hunter said standing still, not moving his blaster a bit from it's position. Did Aphra heard him right, or maybe this helmet is changing his voice that much that she heard him wrong? Did he really called her a little lady? Oh he is so dead right now.

,,Well. That was nice small talk but we need to go now. You know. To kill one fat Hutt and all. Krrsantan. Be so nice and kill him. Make sure to get blood all around this place." Aphra said back to him not changing the way she was standing or smiling and wait for Krrsantan to bring the hell.

She was waiting and waiting but she was not hearing roaring or blaster shoots or even a steps of attacking wookie. The only thing she heard was a low chuckle of the Quarren's man who was watching her from behind. There is something really, really wrong going on here. Black Krrsantan never needed anything more to kill anyone or anything, and now when he is a blood thirsty killing machine, he should already be tearring this guys limps apart. What is stopping him now?

,,He is not gonna do it. Even half wild, he is a wookie. And every wookie has an honor. Even the infamous Black Krrsantan." The skull headed bounty hunter said still pointing his blaster at Aphra's head. There really is something bad going on here and it's stopping Black Krrsantan in helping her, but she is sure that it is not a wookie honor. She know Krrsantan far too long to even think that he cares about these stuffs.

,,That's right. 'No hunter shall interfere with another's hunt'.Black Krrsantan will not help you this time. As long as he still want to be a bounty hunter at least." The Quarren man explained the circumstance Aphra is now. And this circumstance suck.

There is few things what even Black Krrsantan care about. One of them is his job. If he will kill this hunter, right now, in this very place. Every hunter in the galaxy will know that he violated the Creed. He will not only lost his license, what will destroy his hunter carreria, but also every hunter in the galax will get a green light to kill him. And there is three, maybe four hunters in the galaxy that even half wild Black Krrsantan don't want to meet as an enemy. He can't protect her now.

,,I'm sorry but I still don't understand where the problem is. Even without Black Krrsantan, we still have a numbers advante and Beetee can kill the organic with no help from us." Triple Zero said stopping the silence in the room. That's right. Aphra almost forgotten that she still have this real killing machine with with more blasters than anyone on this platform at her side. That's gonna be another kill on BT-1 count.

,,The droid is right." The grim looking bounty hunter said, with no emotions in his voice. You could expect from him to shoot right now, or throw a smoke grenade, or start to pray for mercy with all these blaster pointed at him. But he did something what even Triple Zero could not predict.

The skull headed bounty hunter stopped pointing his blaster at Aphra head and pointed it at...the proton torpedo BT-1 is caring. That was the moment when Aphra started to be a bit scared. She is almost sure, well 60% sure that the torpedo is disarmed. Well 50% sure. Okay, she have no idea if the torpedo is disarmed or not, she took the first better upgraded torpedo she had and bloted it to Beetee.

Wait a minute. Why is she even thinking about it? There is no chance in the universe that he will shoot. The explosion will kill not only her and everyone else in the room, but will destroy this kriffing space statiation. He won't do it.

That was at least what Aphra thought still keeping the smile on her face while watching the bounty hunter. But the longer she was watching him, still standing in the same position, aiming at the torpedo, the more she was thinking that he may do it. That's the problem when a guy holding a blaster to your face wears a helmet. You can't look him in the eyes and see what he is about to do. You can't be sure if the guy is wetting his pants or is cold like ice and don't care about his life.

Aphra need to figure out if he is bluffing or not by the way he's standing, the way he is holding his blaster, way he move his head, and the way his finger is on the blaster's trigger.

Shit!

,,BT-1! RUN!" Aphra yelled taking the data pad from the table and threw it at the bounty hunter's head. Then she quickly jumped over the tablet and hid behind the metal chair where the Quarren Guild master was still sitting, hoping that the hunter will not dare to shoot his employer.

At this time, Beetee, Triple Zero and everyone else were surprised when Aphra said that, but they all understood that the torpedo is not disarmed at all. The data pad who hit the hunter's head haven't done anything beside amusing the hunter who shoot at BT-1. Beetee wanted to shoot back, but with the bomb on top of his buck it was better to move out of the blaster bolt's way, lucky for everyone here, he was fast enough to move out of the blast way and the blaster bolt hit the glass wall behind him.

Black Krrsantan was watching how the hunter was shooting at BT-1 who was dodging almost every single blast, but he saw that sooner or later the hunter will get his shoot and kill them all. Krrsantan can't kill him, not now at least when everyone will know that he violete the Creed. But the Creed is not telling a word that he can't help Aphra and the droids to get them out of this station.

Black Krrsantan jumped between the hunter and BT-1, lifted him up in one hand, then quickly grabbed Aphra's arm and tossed her over his shoulder, next he picked Triple Zero up in his second hand and jumped through the damaged window with Aphra on his shoulder and BT-1 and Triple Zero under his arms.

Good thing that the second level of the platform was not too far from that one where they were, thank that Krrsantan could easily land on his feets and start running to the hangar where their left Ark Angel. Every bounty hunter on their way was or jumped out of their way, or yelling to the hunter who was still shooting at Krrsantan, that he will kill them all, but the hunter was ignoring all their shouts and kept shooting at Krrsantan and Aphra until they left the platform level and run to the hangars.

The grimmy hunter was standing by a while, watching the doors Black Krrsantan used to leave the floor under him, ignoring the Quarren's complaining about destroyed window, blasted walls, destroyed data pad and damaged chair and desk. The suit man was so busy yelling, that he did not saw how the bounty hunter was reading something on his left wrist gauntlets. After he was done reading, the skull headed hunter left the room not saying a word, before the Quarren could notice him leaving the cabinet.

Two hours late. Somewhere in the hyperspace on the Ark Angel board./ 24 Hours Left

Okay. That was close. Too close if Aphra have to be honest now. The guy for sure have guts to do crazy, even insane things. 'Not the best one' he said. If that's true, then Aphra doesn't want to meet the best hunter, Krrsantan is already creepy enough for her. Not to mention Triple Zero with his gross jests and BT-1 with his blaster. Good that Aphra is again printed as Beetee's master otherwise he would kill her right after she removed that, working and full operational, torpedo. Anyway, she start to think that this guy may be a problem now when Black Krrsantan is not having her backs.

Krrsantan also was not happy to let Aphra go without him, but his real agent who accidentally was on that station, told him that protecting her and losing his licence is worse option than let her die and lost these credits she owns him. So he decided to stay on the Bounty Hunter Platform and track her down after the bounty will be canceled or she dead. How nice to have friends.

Nevermind. She still has BT-1 and Triple Zero to do dirty jobs and protect her. What matter, is the fact that the hunter knew where she was and that she was not bluffing with that torpedo. He for sure did his homework after he took that contract. He know a lot about her and she know nothing about him.

The display disk she got from that Quarren guy should make the odds even if not one problem. That is an imperial disk, she need a special Holo-Disc player to see what is on it and even if she have one of them somewhere she still need someone who can get through the Imperial firewall and protocols.

Well. She know someone who may help her, but that will be one of these meeting when she may end up in an imperial cell, blasted, or have very awkward day. That third option is the worst of them for her, and the most likely to happen but she doesn't have any other choice. Ugh. Why she can't just meet some old friend and not worry about a possibility of getting killed?

Few Hours Later. Kessel. Kessendra's Imperial Spice Mines Organization Center. 16 hours left.

The Imperium have done a lot of things on Kessel. They opened schools, build a hospitales, organized a free public transport and make Imperial citizens live here much better. And they wasn't asking much in return. They just wanted the Spice Mines. They have at least 10 of the largest Mines in the sector. That's almost a million of slave laborers and public workers, not to mention thousands of stormtroopers and the garrisons personnel on the planet.

With that large number of soldiers and workers, the officers always have their hands full of work and big officers have easy live. But it's hard to get on Kessel. The Imperials are sending their officers here only to punish them, like for example when they fail more that two time or to reward them for something special.

Magna Tolvan, a very important Imperial officer. Lieutenant-Inspector never was counting on luck and was always trying her best. But lately her best is not enough. She should be dead by now. After her third demerit she should be executed. That was the only time, when she was believing in luck. After a few day after that small adventure with infamous doctor, she was send her to do her job and take care of a rebelliants who were noticed in the sector. She was just sitting in her office doing some paperwork when someone knocked to her doors.

,,Come on in." She said not raising her eyes from the data pad on which she was writing new orders for the lower stormtroopers units and hangars personnels. Boring you say. Yes, boring like hell. But she like it and she is also good at it.

,,Please take a sit. I'm almost done here." Lieutenant-Inspector said still not looking who come to her office but after the time she have spend here she already know that it can wait. The people who usually come to her office are mostly an angry directors, big company owners or low imperial officers who come only to say that the next deliver is canceled or someone from the slave labors is missing.

,,I'm sorry for it. I have a lot of work. How can I help... **YOU!?"** Lieutenant Tolvan finally finished writing down new orders and raised her head to look at the person who was sitting on a chair on the opposite side of her desk. She was more than surprised to seethat it was infamous Doctor Aphra who almost killed her, more than once and two murderous droids behind her.

,,Hey. Happy to see me?" Aphra said waving her hand a bit and smiling widely showing all her white snow white teeths. She always is nervous when she is meeting old…'friends'. They usually are trying to shoot her first and greet her later.

That was exactly what Tolvan was about to do when she reach under her desk for her blaster she keep in one of her drawer. The last time she meet Aphra was….not so nice as she hoped would be and this time for sure will not be any different so better will be to kill her.

,, Hey! Easy there .I'm unarmed. See?" Aphra asked raising her hands up to show that she is not holding a blaster. Then she opened her jacket a little wider to show that she did not hid it watching lieutenant Tolvan face all the time.

Tolvan was not sure if that part with being unarmed was true, she still have these droids and all, but she put her blaster back into the drawer and turned the security cameras in her cabinet off. Then she crossed her arms and looked at Aphra.

,,What do you want?" Lieutenant Tolvan asked with voice straight and cold like her silver eyes. Damn. She is still pissed. Okay. She is not going to like this.

,,I need your help. I need to see what is on this disc. Can you please show me that?" Aphra asked saying please twice, when she put the imperial disc on the desk in equal distance between her and Tolvan who was still looking at her with cold face.

,,Do you really think that I will help you? Have you any idea how many imperial protocols I'm breaking right now just talking with you? Do you think that I will forget everything you have done to me?" Lieutenant Tolvan asked slowly rising her voice and breaking her cold face and changing it into a mad, bloodthirsty Rancor face.

,,Kind of."Aphra said smiling even more than before what probably is not possible at all. She was not really expecting the things to go so far without a blaster fire or any threats from Tolvan side. She is on a roll. She need to use that.

Tolvan was on the edge of calling guard and killing Aphra with her very own bare hands. She really should do it, she should just pull her blaster out and shoot her in the head. She quickly raised her hand up like she was about to hit Aphra in the head so she tried to cover her face with her arms, but the punch never come. Tolvan slammed her fist on the table, took the disc from there and put it into her imperial disc player.

,,Who is after you now?" Tolvan asked after a moment of uncomfortable, for Aphra, silence. She was still protecting her face with eyes close, afraid that she may change her mind, but relaxed after a moment, when she was sure than Tolvan will not hit her. Not now at least.

,,One fat bantha from Nal Hutta. I burned her place down and she is mad because of that. She hired a hitman with black skull instead of head to drag me to her." Aphra said when she tried to put her feets on the top of Tolvan's desk, but one daggering look from Tolvan was more than enough for Aphra to remove her dirty shoes from her clean desk.

,, Let me see. Okay mysterious skull headed mister. Who are youuu…..Oh shit!" Tolvan get through the firewall of the disc Aphra brought her and she could see the informations about one specific man. She was more than surprised to see who was on that hologram.

,,What?" Aphra asked a bit concerned, Tolvan reaction about the disc was not that was she was expecting, she wasn't expecting anything particular, but that reaction for sure was not what she was expecting.

,,You're screwed." Tolvan said looking up from the hologram to Aphra with her face clearly showing that she is in a bigger problems than she was thinking first.

,,Yes I already know that. Can you be more specific why?" Aphra said rolling her eyes and crossing her arms. She did not need to be lot that she in a problem. She is being chasing by a bounty hunter, it is pretty much a definition of having a problems.

,,This guy who is chasing you was ...*Glup*... a death trooper." Tolven was saying slowly, with fear in her voice and her eyes wide open showing that she is now kidding a bit. She was looking like she just said that it was a some kind of Vader's apprentice or the most dangerous man in the galaxy, but Aphra's reaction was just.

,,That's bad?" Aphra asked raising her right eyebrow watching Tolvan's reactions when she finished. She guess that death trooper is some kind of a stormtrooper, but she doubt that this kind is a living dead guys. But if their really are dead, the skull helmets fit them properly.

,,Death Troopers. You know? The black, better kind of had to heard about them." Tolvan was explaining slowly looking at Aphra's blank face. She never was expecting a thief to know anything about imperial ranks, but she was thinking that everybody have heard about Imperial special forces.

,,Just read this!" Tolvan shouted when she twisted the holo projector to face Aphra so she could read everything by herself. Aphra was not so sure why Tolvan was suddenly again so mad but she decided not to ask and just read the stuff.

Well. At first glance it all was looking just a like typical military description of a regular soldier. But she should probably be expecting this reading an imperial disc. Okay. Let's see who is trying to kill her. This time.

The Name. Sergant Armorigen. Born on. Corellia, Ughh. Great. Another Corellian hustler, why this galaxy is so full of guys from this planet? Couldn't he be a Mandalorian's or Coruscant's assassin? Or a scumbag from nowhere? Why it have to be a guy from Corellia?

Okay. Let's ignore the fact that he is from that planet. What else is here. Mmmm….Medical records…..Age... Family….Service history. That's good one. Let's see why he is no long a dead stormtrooper or trooper of dead or whatever.

He joined the Imperial Army, a day after he graduated basic imperial education program, kriffing patriot. He started his service as a stormtrooper stationing on Mandalore….where his squad was slaughtered by local rebelliant supercommandos cell, he lost half of his pals in that attack. Then he got transferred to even worse place he could possibly got. He was on Jedha for five month where he was finding and killing any potential terrorist in the holy city. Lucky for him, he was promoted and moved from there almost a year before the Death Star first test there. He was transferred to Ryloth where he took a big part of twi'lek's genocide, the Empire did after twi'lek's failed try to liberate their planet. Next he was send to Tatooine where he got promoted again and then unlucky transferred to Kashyyyk, where his own squad was brutally butchered in a small battle against wookie rebelliants, he and maybe nine other troopers were the only survivors of that massacre. After than, someone thought that he is a material for the death trooper's program and after few months of death trooper's training, he was guarding some important imperial persons like senators and moffs until the unit was disbanded and he fired from the imperial army.

Well. That's not bad. Okay, he was literally stationing on the worst planets that stormtroopers could possibly be on, but beside that he survived all of that hell, it is nothing special. That should not be hard to kill him. He had spend the last days of his service protecting a guys who usually just sit behind a desk and do nothing and Aphra was working with Vader and she is still alive. How hard it can be to kill one top stormtrooper?

,,I still don't get it why he is so special for you." Aphra said to Tolvan after she had finish the reading. That wasn't something really impressive if you as her. The guy or is good at killing or he is really lucky. And the fact that he is from Corellia is pretty much telling that the second option is more likely to be correct than the first one.

,,How can you don't understand who he is after reading all of it!?" Tolvan asked a bit loudly throwing her arms out in expression. Aphra simply shrugged and waited for Tolvan to calm down. After a few deep breath she was finally ready to explain her everything.

,,Okay Troopers were a special, elite bodyguard for important Imperial officers, Galactic Senators and members of the Tarkin Initiative. They were… He is, a killing machine. In comparison to him, we both are a saint virgins from Naboo." Tolvan was explaining slowly showing the imperial holo-pictures of Death Troopers in action. She showed how they were protecting, killing, torturing, burning alive and murdering dozens of people, aliens and rebelliants.

,,Does that mean that Master Aphra is being hunted by a robotically modified organic from Tarkin Initiative program?" Triple Zero asked excited about an option of Aphra being chase like an animal by a robotical hybrid or by some kind of terminator or cyborg.

,,No. He is not some mutant, he is an imperial special force. He is an expert in finding and eliminating enemies of the Empire. He was trained to not feel fear, pain and compassion. He doesn't think like normal human and don't have any physical, mental, moral or ethical the only thing what could stop them were orders from the superior officers." Tolvan explained again with a lot of emotions in her voice. In her voice Aphra could hear a mix fear, terror and bit of admiration. In someway Triple Zero was right. The description is pretty much telling that he is a bit like a stormtrooper's version of Triple Zero.

,,If they were that good, why one of them become a second rated bounty hunter?" Aphra asked listening what Tolvan was saying and reading everything else what she could about that guy.

The things like his skills and achievements. And that looks like Tolvan is telling the true. He has more less four hundred fifty confirmed kills and almost one thousand probable kills. His speciality were single shots from distance, tracking targets down, interrogation,extermination and...devastation?...He was called, "Devil's Trace" by stormtroopers from Jedha. How imperium could possibly fire a soldiers like him. That's make no sense.

,,Well. After the dissolution of Imperial Senate and the Death Star destruction there was no more government officials for them to protect. And their training was too long and expensive to keep the production on. These of them who didn't die or been caught by rebelliants after Scarif and Yavin IV, were relieved from all duties and discharged from the army." Tolvan said after she twisted the holo projector back and checked the latest informations about the Death Troopers in the Imperial Archives in her system.

Aphra and Tolvan finished reading everything what's left and turned the holoprojector off. Then there was an silence, not uncomfortable but also not pleasant silence. They both were just sitting on their seats with arms crossed and waiting for each other to say something. That was Aphra who decided to start.

,,So what's now? Any suggestions how to kill him?" Aphra asked when the silence in her ears started to hurt her brain. She needed to heard some advice, some good advice, from someone who is not Triple Zero.

,,Your only option now is to kill the Hutt who is paying him. Or you can alway try to run away from him. You are good at this." Tolvan said with venom in her voice reminding her, and herself, that this are not good between them that much as she want them to be.

,,Oh!Come on! You are Lieutenant-Inspector from Coruscant. Can't you just order him to piss off and leave me alone?" Aphra asked a bit louder than she should. She really is not in the mood for that conversation. She already have one super trooper on her head who want to kill her, she doesn't need Tolvan to start another fight.

,,Even if I can why should I? Give me one reason. Just one." Tolvan asked quickly getting more angry with every time when Aphra was opening her mouth and asking stupid questions.

That caught Aphra off guard. It's not like everyone already knew what Tolvan is expecting to heard from her. After these times they spend together and after this how they almost die together that is clear what Tolvan want to heard. But that pretty much can kill her and Aphra. Lucky. Before Aphra could said anything the Tolvan's com-link saved her.

,,.ZZZ….' _Lieutenant-Inspector. Someone here want to speak with your'...ZZZ_." A stormtrooper voice said stopping uncomfortable silence between Tolvan and Aphra. Tolvan took the com-link to answer but before she did that she give Apra one look who was saying that this conversation is far from over.

,,Tell him to wait sergeant. I'm busy now." Tolvan said trying to buy herself more time to say Aphra what a piece of shit she is and to have a bit more time with her also.

 _,,..ZZZ...But sir...He insist…"_ The stormtrooper said, sounding a bit nervous and tense, probably because he is talking with his officer but something feels odd, like a silence before the storm

,,Tell him that I don't have time!'' Tolvan shouted back to him. If she was not mad before, now she for sure is. The meeting was not what she wanted to have today but she have it now and there are something they need to work out.

,, _But sir….He said that he's going to kill everyone in this building if you will not speak with him."._ And Aphra was right. She is slowly starting to hate that when she is right, some shit's happening.

Anyway the mood in the room immediately changed. Tolvan looked up at Aphra with eyes wide open full of fear and surprise. But the look was also showing something different. The look was showing that He was here.

,,Where he is?!" Tolvan asked when she stand up from her chair took the blaster and started to run to the doors. Aphra followed her with Triple Zero and BT-1 right after them.

,, _10 Sir!"_ The stormtroopers answered quickly and scared. He heard his officer screaming and scared, and that never is good for stormtroopers when the officer is scare.

,,Take your men and don't let him leave that sector. I will be there for a moment with reinforces!" Tolvan said while running through the Base corridors. She, Aphra Triple Zero and BT-1 were passing next corridors and more and more stormtroopers were joining them. Good thing that they have another intruder and Tolvan in the boss here otherwise someone of them could asked who Aphra is and what she is doing here.

,,Sector 5!? That is the lower sector in this building. How did he got there?" Tolvan asked a tall stormtroopers with red plate on his arm who brought more like fifty stormtroopers with him when they all entered the moving platform who was taking them deeper underground to the magazine.

,,We don't know Sir. But two teams are already on the defense positions. He is trapped inside the magazine." The red stormtrooper said just when the platform reached the lever and they again started run to the magazine's doors.

The magazine was a large and wide, the lights were off and a lot of boxes were set in a a lines leading to the middle of the magazine. The only light in the magazine was coming from the corridor through the open doors. When Aphra and Tolvan walked to the magazine they saw a dark dressed man with skull helmet on, standing in middle of empty space of magazine to where lines were leading , holding a burning cigarette in right hand.

Most stormtroopers walked down by the stairs to surround the hunter but Aphra, Tolvan, Triple Zero, BT-1, and maybe 10 stormtroopers stayed on the scaffolding to watch the action from the high where they could see everything. In a matter of seconds, there was at least one hundred stormtroopers in the magazine and they all were aiming their blasters at the hunter who was not even holding a blaster in his hands. There is no possible way for them to miss that shoot.

,,Soldier! You're not authorized to be in this area. Leave now or the soldiers with open the fire." Tolvan said to the hunter loudly and threateningly to make sure that she is not joking. The hunter did not reacted at all, he just looked at her with this pity black eyes of his helmet.

,,Sir. I'm sorry but I have to refuse Lieutenant. I will not leave without Doctor Aphra. Please.  
Hand her over to me and I assure you that I will leave immediately.'' The hunter said polite and simply like stormtrooper with who Tolvan was talking before, ignoring the stormtroopers who were around him with blasters pointed at him.

Tolvan was considering the option. After all, Aphra was a notorious criminal, enemy of the Empire, and pain in her ass. Tolvan looked at Aphra who looked at her back, worried a bit. Tolvan was thinking about everything what Aphra have done and everything what she did to her. She have at least ten reasons to let the hunter kill her, and maybe one reasons to protect her, well maybe two if she will count this conversation in the cockpit. She killed a dozens of imperials, stolen two experimental droids, stolen thousands of Imperial credits and many times were working with rebeliants.

Ughhh!

,,This woman is under my personal protection! I command you to leave. NOW!" Tolvan yelled at the hunter after her timeout of thinking at staring at Aphras face. That was a relieve. For a short moment, Aphra really was thinking that Tolvan will let him take her, but again luck or maybe her personal harm was with her.

,,How can you protect her after everything she have done to the Empire. After everything she have done to you!" the hunter said back, raising his voice until he shouted the last two words. To be honest, Tolvan and Aphra also have no idea how she can just forget everything like that but that is not a time to ask this question

,,Master Aphra. I think we should…''Triple Zero tried to say something what for him probably was important, but he did not get a change to finish his sentence.

,,Shh! Not now." Aphra shushed him quickly not even looking back at him. She still was standing behind Tolvan watching and listening her conversation with the hunter. Tolvan was yelling at the hunter that he has no authority to ask her a questions and that he has to leave the area before she will execute him,

,,Master! I really think that you should be aware that it is a...'' Triple Zero tried to say something again to Aphra who was still watching the fight between Tolvan and hunter. The hunter was telling Aphra's crimes and that he has full right to take her while Tolvan was telling him that the Guild laws do not work on the Imperial territory.

,,Switch-off." Aphra whispered to Triple Zero before he could said anything more. After that rude command, Triple Zero really did not said anything more, he turned around and left the magazine with BT-1 following him. Aphra was too busy watching the conservation between Tolvan and Hunter to notice them leaving.

They were still trying to use words instead of blasters but something was odd. After everything what Aphra've read the hunter for sure was no fool. And now he is here, in this magazine, surrounded and not even holding a blaster. And why he is even holding this cigarette, he can't do anything with that while he is still wearing that skull helmet on.

Ding. Ding.

Aphra thoughts were stopped by the signal from her comlink she was having in her pocket. Tolvan and Hunter were still shouting and yelling at each other so she have a moment to answer that. She checked her comlink and saw that Triple Zero was trying to call her. Aphra looked around surprised and noticed that Triple Zero and BT-1 are no longer with her, there were only Tolvan's stormtroopers all around.

,,Where are you!" Aphra answered the call, angry and confused. Not like she need them right now with these stormtroopers around but that always is good to have at least BT-1 around where the blasters are singing.

,, _I'm sorry Master Aphra but as much as I love to watching slowly dying organics. The flames, explosions and the temperature could demange my systems._ " Triple Zero said. He and BT-1 were already waiting on the platform who took them on this lever where the magazine is and were waiting for Aphra to join them for a moment.

,,What are you talking about." Aphra asked even more confused and a bit less mad. She looked around the room and there for sure was no blaster fire yet and no flames. Or the Triple Zero have lost his logical protocols are there is something about what Aphra don't know.

,, _Please look at the left corner of the magazine_." Triple Zero said and hung up before Aphra could ask him any more question.

Aphra hide the comlik back in her pocket and started looking for something what Triple Zero could possibly be worried about. She easily found the left corner and there was nothing interesting in there. Only a dead body of the magazine worked and a few open and empty fuel containers.

That hit Aphra like a space train. The containers were empty but there was still a few drops of fuel in them. She tried to take a better look at the dark magazine floor but she could not saw a thing. Then she move to the front of the of the scaffolding and tried to see if it really is what she think it is.

The hunter and Tolvan were still shouting at each other and the stormtroopers were on the edge of shooting, but that was not what Aphra was afraid. Aphra tried to look better at the floor where the hunter and stormtroopers were standing. On the first glance, the floor was looking wet like just after cleaning, but that was not a water on the floor. That was the fuel.

,, **HOLD YOUR FIRE! IT'S A TRAP!** " Aphra yelled as loud as she could. Everyone in the room looked at her surprised not knowing what she meant. Everyone beside the hunter.

He looked at Aphra and when their 'eyes' meet, she could almost feel his cold look in her soul. She was trying to yell to him to not do it. But before she could do that. The hunter dropped the slow burning cigarette on the fuel covered floor.

That was just a spark. One small spark. But that was enough to start hell. The fire was like wind during a storm, spreading everywhere and destroying everything on it's way. All stormtroopers who were down, were set on fire, they were screaming like a dying animals and trying to pull out the fire but these was no point in that. Tolvan quickly ordered the evacuation and the stormtroopers who were not yet on fire started to run to the doors. But before Aphra left the room, she needed to take one glance more. She was looking for the hunters dead body in the middle of that hell. The flames were making it difficult to see anything but finally she saw it.

But it was not a dead body. Or a man on fire. It was the same hunter still standing in the same place where he dropped the cigarette, but now holding his blaster rifle, aiming at Aphra's head. He was looking like a devil in hell with this skull helmet on, ignoring the flames and hot temperature around him like it was nothing. He was not only hard to kill and smart, but also fireproof. That was all what Aphra needed to see. She quickly turned around, dodgedd blaster shoots who almost hit her, and runned out of the magazine.

Aphra catched up the stormtroopers and Tolvan in the corridor when they were running to the platform where Triple Zero and BT-1 were waiting for them. But then, she get it. The hunter somehow was in the lower level of this building, he knew that the flames won't kill her and that she will try to escape using the same platform he used to get on this lever.

Quickly. Aphra pushed Tolvan out and jumped out of the platform before something on the higher level of the building exploded and the platform fall. Aphra, Tolvan and maybe 10 stormtroopers were watching how the platform was falling down, hitting and destroying everything on it's way, until it hit the ground where the slaves were working. Apha could see how the slaves were gathering around the crashed platform. After a short moment of silence, she could see something was was looking like a blaster fires coming from the platform. Then she reminded herself that BT-1 and Triple Zero were still on that platform a second before the explosion.

,,Triple Zero! Are you ok?" Aphra shouted to her com link, she can't lose Triple Zero and BT-1, not now when that psycho, ultra black dead, hitman is on her tail in the same building.

,... _...ZZZ..I'm afraid that I will need an oil bath and solid polish but I'm in one piece... *SQUESKS*... Beetee also is not damaged. Focus on shooting than talking you rusty bucket_." Triple Zero and BT-1 said, that was a bit hard to heard them because of all the creams and blaster shots in the background.

,,Get up here. I need you and Beetee right now." Aphra said to the comlink still watching the fight in the lower level, the slaves were dying like a flies and it should not them they long to kill rest of them, but she doesn't have time to wait for them.

,, _I sorry but it will take a while. Beetee and stormtroopers are very efficient in killing the slaves but there is a lot of foes down here *Whisper*...Leave some of them for me to torture. I too want to have some fun_." Triple Zero said and Aphra knew that she just can't wait for them. The hunter is just half of the problem, if she will stay here where she is now, the fire or slaves will kill her before the hunter will have a chance.

,,Sergeant. Take all men you have left, seal the building, get everybody out of there and meet me then in the hangars. The fire will take care of the slaves. And you! Come with me." Tolvan said to the red stormtrooper before she turned to Aphra and took her by the arm to the stairs.

They were running up the stairs for a longer moment. It took them a three levels of stairs to climb, but finally they were in the lobby. That wasn't hard to find the exits but panicik civilians and stormtroopers make it difficult to leave the building.

The town was in chaos. Fire was not as big problem as it that probably every single slave in this area chosen to start riots right now, but that at least have one positive side. There was no option that the hunter could possibly find Aphra or Tolvan in this chaos. But still there is no reason to stay here and wait for him to find them. Aphra and Tolvan had to blast they way to the hangars where Ark Angel was.

After few interruption and many blaster bolts they finally were in the hangar, Aphra runned to Ark Angel to warm the engine when Tolvan was blocking the hangar's door. It did not take long to prepare Dark Angel, Aphra was ready to go when she notice something. She noticed that Tolvan was not in the ship with her. Looking through the cockpit, Aphra saw that Tolvan was still in the hangar, poting her blaster at the hangar's door, waiting for enemies.

,,What the kriff are you doing!? Get in here!?" Aphara said thought the Dark Angel's audio waiting for Tolvan to get on the board. That was not really time to play imperial war hero and Aphra just can't waste any time. The riots will not him for long.

,,If that son of a bantha think that he can just come in here, kill half of my men and burn my office to the ground without any consequences then he doesn't know me yet." Tolvan said did not tuning around to look at Aphra. She still was pointing her blaster at the door and had no intention to run, not this time, and for sure not with Aphra. Something was telling her that she may die sooner by escaping with Aphra now than staying here and trying her luck with that hunter.

,,Are you out of your mind!? You can't be serious. We gotta run! Now!" Aphra said again a bit louder and more worried that before, she could heard that someone was now trying to knock the door down. Staying here, dressed in the gray imperial officer uniform during a riot is bad, trying to fight with a bounty hunter who just killed at least Fifty stormtroopers is probably the worst idea ever. Aphra will not let her die like that just because she like imperials. Aphra will never let her die.

,,So run. I will buy you as much time as I can. **Get out of here**!" Tolvan yelled at her, turning her head to look at Aphra for the first time in a while. Aphra could not see the Tolvan's face, but she was quite sure that Tolvan was giving her a hell of a look. But not the look who is telling you 'Go or I will kill you' or 'I don't want to see you again'. Aphra could feel that Tolvan look was more like 'I'm trying to save you dumbass'.

That was the kind of look you get when you know that the person is really serious now and will not change its mind.

,,Don't you dare to die. You still owe me one." Aphra said to Tolvan for the last time before she turned Dark Angel around and flew out of the hangar. It was probably the hardest thing for her to say ever, she needed to take at least three deep breath to say that and hit the cockpit panel to get the starting kick. But she said that, and now she was in the clouds, too far away to turn back.

,,See you around. Doctor." Tolvan said that with maybe a small smile on her face while watching how Dark Angel was leaving the Kessel's orbit.

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a screams of some people outside of the doors. Someone was killing a bunch of people who sounded more like an animals than humans. That could not be her stormtroopers and no one was trying to break the doors down anymore. That have to be the hunter, and he was up on something since that he was not trying to kick the door open.

''*Knock* Knock*''

What the?... Did he just knocked? That for sure was something unexpected. What the hell is he thinking? That she will just open the door for him? There is no option that Tolvan is opening that door. That at least was what she was thinking, before she walked closer to that door, with blaster still in her hand.

Short Time Later. In the middle of the Kessel Trade Corridor.

Stupid Maw Nebulae. There is only one way to get out of there and it is by this kriffing tunnel, Aphra can't even jump to the hyperspace now. All she can do is to pilot her way out from this corridor, jump to Nal Hutta and somehow kill the Hutt bitch before that hunter who she send will kill her. It would be much easier to do without these stupid spacecrafts all around.

The riots and chaos in the Kessel City forced a lot of official and civilian starships to leave Kessel in panic and now the corridor was pretty much one big, slowly moving space traffic. But that was not what Aphra was mostly worried about now.

Tolvan said that she will buy her as much time as she could. That means that she was expecting confrontation. And the confrontation may have only one result. Someone's death. There never was a lot of time Aphra was afraid or worried about anything, but now. Now she could give anything to just know what happened in that hangar when she left. And who was the one who lost the fight.

 **Warming! Warming! Two Proton torpedos coming from the stern!"** The on-board computer cut Aphra's thought by loud screaming that two torpedos just hit the back of Ark Angel and probably demanded something important because all light on the ship just turned red.

After that, Aphra did not wait for another torpedo or blast to hit her. She took the ship's controls and tried to fly her way between slowly flying civilian spaceships, dodging another shots from the ship behind her. On the board monitor she saw that the ship who was shooting to her was a large, black and heavy armored TL-1200 who was not caring about any ships on its way. Whoever was piloting that ship, he was not flying around or between other ships in the corridor like Ark Angel but through them, ramming them out of its way.

Shit. That corridor and these panicking ships make her looking like a sitting mynock for that TL. Never mind what she did, that ship somewhat menaget to hit her another time. The blasts were not a problem, Ark Angel has a shield like a freaking star destroyer, but the proton torpedoes were a bigger problem. They were basically rapping Ark Angel's backside and one engine was already not working anymore and second one was on fire.

.She need to jump to hyperspace if she want to survive a day more, Ark Angel can't take more torpedoes, but there is still a small distance to the corridor's exit, she can see it, a whole in the space cloud who. It's a bit risky, but she maybe can make hyperspace jump from inside the corridor. The coordinate were already in the system and her hyperdrive is still working somehow.

Thank the force. It was working. She was jumping to the hyperspace, just a moment before another torpedo hit her last engine. That's officially her luckiest day ever. What you can't say about other ships who exploded when Ark Angel hit them while entering the hyperspace. But the explosions and shock wave did not destroyed black TL, only damaged him a bit, but was still full operational.

Ark Angel was gone in the hyperspace, and Doctor Aphra again slipped from his hands. But the hunter was not worried about that. Not when her ship is barely flying, and when he know where she is going. The question is, how far she can keep Ark Angel in the hyperspace, before the last engine will stop working.

At the same time, in the hyperspace.

Aphra can't keep Ark Angel working. She somehow managed to put out the fire, fix life support system, but she can't fix her engines. Two of three engines are dead and there is no way she can fix them in the hyperspace, and the last one in working on edge of imploding. She should stop on the nearest planet and try to find someone who can fix it but she can't. The nearest planet is too obvious to stop, the hunter for sure will be waiting for here there. She need to go a bit further and then try to fix the engines, and have hope that she will not explode before that.

Anyway, if the explosion will not kill her, the heat from third engine for sure will. Or maybe it is her heart who is beating like a warhammer. It was close, the closest meeting with death she had in years, and it's shame to say, but she is scared. She is scared, there was not many times when she was scared of anything, and after working with Vader she thought that there is nothing more she must be afraid of. But look now, she is sitting on the pilote chair afraid that she will blow up, but that's not really what she is afraid of.

Tolvan said that she will buy her as much time as she could, she give her maybe five minutes of agvantage, what was enough time to escape in one piece. But when a fight is only few second long that means that someone died pretty quickly, and since the hunter almost killed her back in that corridor, Tolvan is probably dead now. Who is she kidding she for sure is dead. There is no other option. But why it hit her so hard.

Speaking of hitting and being dead. The third engine give its last breath, exploded and Ark Angel just flew out from the hyperspace. But the engine did his job anyway, in front of her was a bright shiny and mostly urban planet. Sleheyron if she remember right. That will be easy to find here someone who can fix Ark Angel, that place is second the biggest urban planet in the sector. If she will only survive the landing.

That what Aphra was doing could not be called piloting, most likely a controlling falling from the sky, with the ship backside on fire. The problem was that she can't control it as well as she wish she could. Let say that when she was trying to turn right and land on the landing pads, Ark Angle was turning left and was about to hit one of not many arenas where the actual planet surface was.

It was like her third or second worst landing she ever had. Thanks the Force that Ark Angel is soo dural otherwise she would smashed right now. In the moments like this you start to understand for what seats belts are, they are really saving lives.

Look through the cockpit's window Aphra saw that Ark Angel is pretty much suck in the ground. That was not that bad anyway, she is so deep underground that the ashes and ground killed the fire but not too deep to be trapped inside of her own also was in one piece, no broken bones and no bleeding, only horrible pain in her chest and head.

With the main doors blocked under the ground, Aphra used the top hatch to leave the ship.

When she was finally outside, Aphra could take a better look at where she was. She was at the middle of nowhere, right between active volcano and big urban city not so far from her. Why she could not crash a bit closer, or even in that city?

Anyway, it was a dark night but she could see the destruction that she did when the ship hit the ground, it was looking more like a meteorite just fall from the sky than a spaceship emergency landing. That volcanic ashes pretty much saved her and Ark Angel. She can only think what could happen if she would hit something harder than that ashes. She need just fix the engine, and get rid of that ashes from Ark Angle mechanism and she will be all good to….

Aphra thought were stop when she heard familiar sound of a spaceships entering the plant's orbit. Aphra looked up and she was black TL-1200 who just flew to the city to find a place to land.

She could not believe her own eyes. How could he possibly know where she is. Even she did not know where she will possibly end up and she for sure was not expecting him to find her that quickly. She crashed here maybe 10 minutes ago and he already was here.

With Ark Angle stuck in the ground, with no blaster or a partner to help her, Aphra did something what she was not doing for a long time. She run. Run for her dear life, not really sure where she was running, but as far as she could from the ship, the hunter and half of the planet for sure will have no problem in finding Ark Angel here but she can't do anything about it now.

It was not easy to run, the ashes on the ground and in the air were making it like running in a snowstorm, with this difference that snow won't fill your lungs, nostrils, mouth, eyes up, and you will not suffocate after a few meter of running. Aphra tried to cover her mouth and eyes with her right sleeve but it was not really helping too much. She needed to find someplace to hide before she die here.

After a moment of running with her eyes close Aphra finally found some place where she could hide from the ashes. It was small, simly spiral building made of basalt slags with enough space to sit down and caught the breath not worry about the ashes in the ground. After a moment of resting and pulling out the ashes from her eyes, Aphra could see something interesting items on the ground and some shapes on the walls around here.

There was a white painting on the walls, the paintings were telling some story. The first painting was looking like a group of...Rakata. That's interesting, it looks like that planet was under Rakata control few ages ago, but that's not all. The more Aphra was watching the more bloody the painting were getting. Next paintings showed that most of Rakatans were living here in peace, but someone come to them and was capturing the weakest ones. Next painting showed a group of large, muscular, unknow for her aliens who were keeping captured Rakaras in cages, what was not something new, Sleheyron economy always was based on slave trade, but these bastards were doing something worse that it.

They were draining the blood out of the Rakatans and boiling it in these weird things on the ground. Then it hit her. Aphra remember reading about this guys from her Academy days, there was some small paragraph about an ancient organization who was called BloodyBoilers of Kragis. Textbook said that they were called like that because they were probably drinking blood of their victims.

Looks like the textbook again was wrong. The paintings were showing that Bloodboilers were boiling blood of their victims, but they were not drinking it at all. The last painting was showing two figures. One was a Bloodboiler who was covered in that boiled blood and was getting bigger and stronger, the second guy was a Rakatan male, who also was covered in that boiled blood, but he was melting like a snowman on Geonosis.

Blood Boilers. More like blood washers. Another group of sadistic bastards. She just couldn't find anything different right? Anyway, for finding something like that she should get her own page, or even a chapter in a history book and if these things on the ground are this what she thing they are, she should get her own section in galactic museum.

But she will not, she will never tell anyone what she found her, she won't get a chance to prove this finding to anyone. She is trapped and defenseless on this planet, with a bounty hunter on her tail. She should not be here, Tolvan should not die, and stormtrooper should not be chasing her that well. Stormtroopers should not be smart, should not know hot to aim, should not be a treat, and should not kill her. But there she is, she will die here, she will die and no one will know where or how she died. No one will even care, and no one will cry after her death. And, for the first time in years, it make her want just to sit down and cry.

Some time later.

Aphra is not sure how long she was sitting here, but the storm was gone and weather outside got better, there was less ashes in the air and she could see the area around her. And what she saw surprised her. She could see Ark Angel from here, but he was far away from here position and she was on a volcano about half a from from bottom to the top. It was a damn long run and she did not even noticed that. And she was pretty lucky to find this building, the ashes and rock around here make it difficult to notice the narrow entrance even now.

Aphra really wish she could just mark this place somehow, take some photos and proofs, then take Ark Angel and show these guys in the Academy who is the best archaeologist in this Galaxy, but she couldn't. The reason why she is still alive is probably this that the storm mixed with volcanic ashes make it impossible for the hunter to follow her and he just waited for the storm to pass.

That give her some time, but how much? And what she will do with it time? For the last two days, everything what she was doing was running and cheating death. Somehow he always knew where she was and where is was going. It has to change. Now.

No more running, Aphra is tired of this, she will fight him, here and now. She will not get a better chance, for the first time in a while, she finally know something what he don't know. She know that he will come for her, and this time, she will be waiting for him.

It will not be hard to hid, she already is dirty like hell what's giving her a pretty good camouflage in this territory. The thing is, she doesn't have any weapon to kill him, a stone will scratch his helmet if she will come close enough to hit him with it. She need to have something better than it.

Looking for something to use as a weapon, Aphra walked back to the small building hoping for finding anything useful, but all what she found were some large white fabric, vials,flints, flasks, stills, fire woods, sublimators, old rusty bucked and rolled scroll write in the basic. The scroll got her attention and Aphra unrolled it, it was an instruction. Instruction of building a blood left by the Blood Boilers.

Well. At least she know how to make the hell strong acid. She can always ask him to drink it before he will kill her. She was looking for a weapon, and all what she found is an ancient mobile laboratory. On the second thought, maybe stones are not that bad option.

Aphra was thinking for a moment, looking around herself, walking in a circle trying to think something out. She didn't have any idea. Angry and mad, she hit the wall right next to her, trying to lose some tension. After that hit, she've noticed that there was something white on her hand.

Aphra looked at the wall she had hit and saw that she hit the painting of melting Rakatan. She felt a bit bad about damaging the ancient paintings, but that give her some idea. If that boiled blood was that strong, that it may be strong enough to melt that hunter.

It's good. It's very good. She have everything what she need to make that acid, all vials and flasks are still full, and if she read the scroll correctly, all what she need to do is to put these liquids to the bucked and warm it up.

Aphra did what she thought. The hardest part was to make a sparkle out of two flints. Trying to light the wood up with only a single sparkle per time was not something what Aphra could do. But she never was playing with the rules so why she should be doing it now. She teared a small piece of the white fabric and opened one flask full of some white liquid.

Not sure how it's going to work out, Aphra tried to drop only one drop on the piece of fabric. Then she put two dry, medium size pieces of firewood on now wet piece of fabric, and again tried to make a spark out of two stones. Just like before, all what she could do was a single spark, but the luck again give her a hand and that spark fell just on the white fabric where she dropped that liquid, and the explosion was quite impressing.

Good thing that she dropped only a single drop, Aphra is quite sure that the she burned a bit of her eyebrows just with that single spark, so she doesn't want to think what could happen if she would use an entirely flask.

Anyway, the fire was ready. Now she need to mix these mixtures together in that bucket and warm them until they are hot like sand on Tatooine. Aphra wrapped the bucket's handle into the white fabric to be able to hold the bucket over the fire and not burn her hands in the process.

It took only a few moments to have that mixture boiling and ready to use. There was only a one problem. Aphra emptied all flask, and all what she got in the bucket is maybe a one liter of that acid. It's enough just for one shot and still she need to come close enough to pour this on him.

Okay. Aphra has a weapon, now she only need a plan. With that not even half bucket of acid she will have to come very close to have at least a chance of killing the hunter with that. She can alway dig a hole, cove it with that white fabric, cover it with the ashes around and hope that he will fall in.

No, that's stupid. That kriffing ashes all around are making it impossible to not leave any tracks, he will saw where she prepared traps just by looking at the tracks she will leave around. Aphra just can't come to him close enough to dump that thing onto him .So she need him to come to her.

That's right. She need him to come to her. She can't fight him, she need to make him stand in one place, close enough for her to dump that shit onto his head and watch him melting like an ice stick on hot summer day. It means that she will dig a hole in the ground after all.

Some time later. 24 hours left.

After every storm is that moment when the sun come out, Sleheyron is no different. The local here sait that ash storm from the last night was the worst storm in ages and no one who was out of the town could possibly survive an hour outside. If it was somebody else, the hunter maybe would believe them, but his pray is not a no one, she is the infamous Doctor Aphra, if anyone could survive that storm, it was she.

The hunter found her ship easily, even that tones of volcanic ashes could not cover entirely the destruction Ark Angel left after his emergency landing. But there was no track or anything what could say where did Doctor Aphra go.

Standing on the top of Ark Anger, the hunter looked around himself to see the area and everything around him and the grounded spaceship. There was just no place she could hide nearby, but she had to hide somewhere, she couldn't survive that storm on this field, as flat as ice-boarding had to hide somewhere else, but when.

The hunter was not thinking too long about that, the only place where Doctor Aphra could possibly go was that volcanic range on the horizonte. Quiet a long distance, but since he did not found her body inside of the ship, the only option is this that she somehow make that run and hide there.

After a short ride on his speeder, the hunter found himself standing at the foot of the biggest volcano in the range. Taking the speeder any higher could be dangerous, so now he was walking. He couldn't know if Doctor Aphra is on this peculiar volcano, but the summit should be high enough to see the nearest 20 miles. When he will be on the top, his helmet and the termal mod in it will do rest of the job, that's, if she isn't underground, then he will need to look for her body using the old ways with dogs.

The hunter was in the middle of planning when he noticed something on the ground. A boot print. Too small for a man, too big for a child. A woman. There was more of the prints in the ashes, and they all were leading up, the distance between them was wide, like someone was running. It has to be hers.

Holding his DLT-20A blaster rifle, prepared to attack, he kept walking up, following the higher he walked, the more track there was, on the beginning the hunter was not thinking that it should be a problem but after a short time he understood.

He was maybe half of the way to the top when he saw a ash covered plateau, with a boot prints all over this place, making it impossible to follow anything. Clever, he knew that she had to see him when he was riding his speeder, but he was expecting her to attack him or try to run away again, but there he is, in a trap.

Or ot least he will be, there is nothing more she could do there if not set up a trap. The question is where and what kind of a trap she prepared. There is no grass around, no trees, no buildings, just ashed all around, and her boot prints everywhere.

Everywhere beside of small, square like place in the middle of the plateau. That was the only place where was no boot prints, this means that she did not wanted to step on that place. The hunter walked closer to the square, still looking around for any sight of Doctor Aphra.

When he was one step from stepping on the square, he saw that it was some kind of blanket slightly falling down, with ashes on top to hid it's white color. Not bad, not bad at all, the idea was good and almost worked, but he saw too many young soldiers dying in a traps like this one to fall in that now.

,,Is that all what you have!? I'm a bit disappointed!"The hunter said loudly while walking around the square, looking around himself to not be attacked from behind. He knew that Doctor Aphra was close, waiting to stick when he was not ready.

The hunter did not know how right he was. Aphra really was close, let say, a one step away from him, and three or four feets underground, with a bucket of acid at her side. She knew that he isn't stupid enough to fall into that trap, but she knew that he will not try to touch something what he will consider as a trap, what's the best location for her to be now.

Aphra could try to spill the acid up on him now, but it would kill her. The hunter was walking in a circles around here, still half watching the trap and the rest of the place around him, keeping his guard high. If he has a good reflex, he will shoot her when she will just move the blanked out, Aphra need to wait for a moment when he will turn his back to her, and then get him.

While Aphra was thinking about her attack, the hunter was still walking around her. He was saying loudly to come out, to surrender and that there is no use in hiding, bu it all was not working. Not like he was expecting Aphra to come out when he ask or surrender, he was hoping more that he will heard some sound, breath or move.

Dead Silence. Nothing, none, zero. The only thing that could be heard was a wind, and the hunter's own breathing. She is too good and too old to make a rookie mistake in a situation like this. She won't do anything until he is still prepared.

The hunter saw a small path between two large stones not so far from him, if he has to bet, he would say that Doctor Aphra is just right there. Walking inside is a suicide, even if she is not there, she will attack him when he will be leaving that cave or whatever it is, and she won't come out from her hiding while he still ready. That's a bit risky for the hunter, but he doesn't have another choice.

The hunter raised his blaster rifle up, and rested it on his right shoulder, like he was just after a good hunting or so, then he put his second hand on his hip and turned to the two rock in front of him with his head up. He was almost in a perfect position for Aphra to strike, just a bit too close, she waited for him to walk a bit further, to make sure that he will not catch, or punch her when she will run at him.

,,You know? I never like imperial officers. They were always tough and stiff. But **she** wassurprisingly soft." The hunter said, with the most cocky voice he could have with his skull helmet still on his head, looking at the two stones, back turned to Aphra, with his guard off. But still standing in the same place.

Aphra get about who he was talking about. He really did a research about her. It was a provocation. Not really good one. A childish one. And probably a lie. Tolvan give her a 10 minutes at least, there was not option that he could do, this, and then catch her in the Kessel Corridor. It was dumb provocation and it shouldn't work on Aphra.

But it worked.

Emotions are strong things to play with. That's easy to piss someone off and make do something stupid, and much as Aphra hate to admit it, she is no different. She just had to kill him. Right now. She raised from the ground as quickly as she could, the damned blanket just had to slow her down. She saw how the hunter was turning around, trying to aim at her, but he was too slow. Aphra took a swing, and everything happened just too fast for her to remember.

It happened just in a blink of the eyes. Aphra heard some sound, then something hit her really hard in the stomach. Something what pushed her back and she fell on the ground. Kriff it hurts, like really, really hurts. Hurts too much to even open the eye, all she can do is lay down and mover her hands to touch her lower stomach.

It was stupid idea but she can feel it, the closer she move her hands the stronger she feel it. He wasn't that slow as she thought he was. He got her, there is nothing like being shot, he got her just in the middle, she can feel that. But there is something more, this sound she heard before, this what still is in her ears. Screams.

Yes. Aphra can hear it now. A loud screams of agony, a screams of slow dying man, a sound of melting down body. Aphra don't see it, but she can imagine this by the way he's screaming. She can hear how he is rolling on the ground, how his voice doesn't sound like a man anymore, but rather like a dying animal, a pig if she has to describe it.

It makes her smile, and laugh a bit but she stopped because of the pain but it is okay. She got him, and she bet that the pain she feels is nothing in comparison to the pain he feels right now. She also feel that she is getting sleepy, she is passing out. Kriff, he really got her good.

The world started to spin and everything gets cold, Aphra could feel how she was slowly losing her senses, she couldn't feel the taste of ashes in her mouth, or hear the screams who could be heard on the other side of the planet, or even feel the terrible pain in her lower stomach. The only things she know that happened are dead silence and cold darkness all around her.

After some time. The force know where.

Aphra was thinking about death a lot of times, she was always afraid of dying in vacuum space and had dozen of nightmares about that, she always thought that it was the worst kind of dying, flying in the space, freezing and with no oxygen, when your eyes are open and blank. That's how she though death is, but it looks like she was wrong.

First thing, it isn't cold, it's hot. Like head burning and blood boiling in your veins hot. Second, it is not like flying, but like a lying or sitting on something really hard, Aphra know some rock who are softer that it. But rocks don't have shape like that. Where the kriff she is? Aphra slowly opened her eyes, it was hard because that lamp just had to be place above her head in front of her eyes. Wait a minute. A lamp? Why there was a lamp here, and why that ceiling was looking so much like...her ceiling?

,,Master Aphra. Good think you are awake." The too familiar robotic voice asked and there was also a familiar sound of astromech droid. So she really is dead. The last time Aphra have seen them, Triple Zero and BT-1 were on Kessel. There is no chance they could find here on their own. She already had a nightmare about Triple Zero, that the person who he was torturing this time was she, for everything she did to him, mostly for being his master and tricking him more than once. And to think that she never believed that theory about eternal suffering for bad people her mother told her when she was young.

,,Master Aphra. Before you ask any question I need to say that we found you after he did that to you." Triple Zero said sounding as worried as he could be telling about something what Aphra don't know yet.

,,What are you talking about? I'm not dead?" Aphra asked when she tried to cover her eyes, but she felt that her hands are locked behind her backs. More awake than before, Aphra looked down and she saw that she is sitting on a really familiar chair, her chair.

,,Not yet." Some new voice said that. Aphra raised her head up and looked around to see who said that. First Aphra 'turned' to the right and she noticed that she is back on Ark Angel, she know every part of that ship and she is 100% sure that it is her ship, but fixed and in one piece. Then Aphra turned her head to the left where her workbench is and she saw that someone was sitting on top of it.

It was a man in his early 30st, really tall guy, short dark brown hair, gray eyes, with skin white and pale like he haven't seen a sunlight in years. He was dressed in a black bodyglover, sitting on her tabel with his legs hanging in the air, holding a cup in one hand. The guy was clearny looking like a soldier, his face was literally telling 'I have fought on war', and there was something cold in his eyes what gives Aphra chills. He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't making any face, it was a blank, emotionless face. A dead man face.

It hit Aphra like a train and she turned pale like she had been hit by one too. That wasn't some strange guy and she hasn't been saved by anyone. It was him, this guy sitting on her table is the same guy who was chasing her for the last two day, and on who she have throw a bucked of acid. And he was alive.

,,What's up, doc? You look like you just have seen a ghost." The hunter said and took a snip from his cut, but it wasn't sarcastic or joking, it was like his face, blank and deadly serious. He left Aphra speechless by it, she saw what that thing could do, and she is sure that she dumped that acid on his head. He couldn't survive this, but he is here. Something is really bad.

,,But...You...I...I killed you!?"Aphra mumbled after a while of collecting pieces of her mind back together. Her not good start made his smile a bit. It was this kind of smile Aphra is giving everyone when she think that someone is an idiot.

,,No you don't. Only came bloody close." The hunter said with a bit of anger and irritation in his voice, pointing hand with a cup at the right crook of his neck, and holding half melted down skull helmet in the second hand. The entire left side of once impressive and scary black helmet was entirely melted down, Aphra could only see a small fragment of left eye and forehead left from it.

After a while, the hunter dropped the helmet on the floor and Aphra noticed that it fell next to another new object on the floor. It was looking like bit melted down DLT-20A blaster rifle's stock, but there was no other part laying around, only the stock, with no other parts of the blaster.

NOW. Aphra remember what happened. After she jumped out from her hiding, she throwed the bucked at the hunter, the acid inside was about to fell on the hunter's head and torso, but he covered himself with his long DLT-20 blaster rifle, he was holding on his arm. Most of the acid fell on his blaster, but a small part of that acid fell onto his helmet and right shoulder. But why Aphra ended up on the ground with pain in her stomach?

Aaa, yes. When Aphra was throwing the bucked at him, he was already holding 434 blaster pistol in his second hand and in the moment when the acid was falling on him, he shoot at Aphra like these guys who are shooting at each other at high noon. Then, before she was passed out, he had to remove somehow his helmet, without burning his head, what explain screams and rollings she have heard before.

After remaining herself what happened Aphra raised her head back to take a better look at the hunter's head. Aphra could notice now that the part of his skin, close to his right ear and down, have a brown stains, but now like a suntan stains. The marks on his neck and head were looking more like someone was slowly baking these parts of skiin until they were golden brown like chicken wings.

Aphra couldn't stop herself and smiled at this mischievously, a bit proud of herself. These kind of stains are marks for an entire life, and hurt really badly even after days of having them. Even now, the hunter have to be in some pain.

The hunter had to notice that and understood about what Aphra was thinking and smiling at because he was even more grimmy than before. He stand up from the tablet and took a data pad Aphra is used to work on.

,,Say the codes." The hunter asked holding the data pad close to her head, almost hitting her with it. Aphra did noticed it at first, but now when she have the data pad literally in front of her eyes, she saw that it was a documents of changing the authority over the ship and everything on him. He wanted her to give him the codes to have Ark Angel? And her stuff, and Triple Zero and Beetee!

,,Why would I do such a thing?" Aphra asked raising an eyebrow, she also wanted to ask why Beete or Triple Zero haven't kill him already when she was asleep. They never needed an order to kill anyone.

,,Because I know that you are going to use it against me, and if I will die, you will die with me." The hunter said sounding deadly serious and a bit...amused? Not so sure, but that what he said was even more confusing than his not clean tone of voice. Die with him? He already shot her and she live somehow. Exactly, Aphra don't feel pain in her stomach anymore, the only pain she feel now, is in the back of her neck. What the kriff he did to her!?

,,Feel that? Small but irritating right. And very useful when you want to keep slaves in line." The hunter said smiling like a jackass, watching how Aphra was thinking nervously. He chipped her.

Everyone who ever was in the Outer Rims know these chips. Guys who has enough credits to buy them, use them to make sure that slaves won't try any rebellion or run away from them. If there are any attempt to escape, a owner just push the button and a slave blows up like a firework.

,,I have read enough about you to know that you are too dangerous to keep you alive. As much as I wanted to shoot you when you was asleep, my client wants you alive. That's why I have this." The hunter said showing Aphra his left wrist gauntlet. Except of typical things who were often on them, Aphra noticed that the computer on the gauntlet was showing two living functions of someone. Stuff like weight, heart beating, blood pressure, water/oxygen/stress level, cholesterol etc. First one was new for Aphra, but the second one was familiar, mostly because it was hers.

,,My chip and your are connected. Both of them are monitoring our living functions and are sending the signal to my gauntlet. If anything like being poisoned, stabbed in the back or being shot by armory of blaster on wheel will happen to me *Boom*. Get it?" The hunter asked, sarcastically but bet that he was referring to Triple Zero's and Beetee's specializations in killing.

Now she get it. He doesn't want Ark Angel, he wants a safety card. With the access codes he will not only legally owning her ship, but he also will be printed as Triple Zero's and BT-1's new master. Clever move, she got to admit it, the guy know his stuff. Not to mention that with this chip in her neck she is basically his slave. Like hell she will give him this code.

,,Sorry. I don't know about what codes are you talking about. I've been forgetting things lately." Aphra said sounding very convincingly with that sassy smile on her face. He just told her that he won't kill her because his boss want to do it personally, if she will give him these codes, he will take her to the guy on her own ship. No idea why he did not hot wire the panel but as long as they are grounded the longer she live.

,,Don't try to play smart with me. Just say it and save yourself pain" The hunter said, getting a bit piss off by her sassy comments. It looks like he is a short tempered guy, or Aphra is just playing on his nerves. Anyway, she can use it.

,,Too late. I already am smarter than you.''Another sassy reply with another annoying smile on her face. It take something more than being handcuffed to a chair and a ugly face to scary, she live with Triple Zero and work with Black Krrsantan after all.

,,Okay you want to do this hard way. Fine by me. I was doing it before. Lots of times."The hunter said when he threw the data pad away and walked back to the table. That's official, the guy lost lost his shit.

Aphra was asleep for a longer while. That long that the hunter got enough time to pay someone to pull Ark Angel out from the ground, clean him up from the ashes, fix all engines and everything what was damaged, buy few E-Bacta Shots and use ten of them on himself to stop the pain, (didn't work). Then, the rest of his time he have spend on preparations, he was never expecting Aphra to just tell him these codes, he knew that he would have to force that from her, and he was ready.

Aphra could see few things lying on the top of the tablet, all of them probably belong to the hunter. She noticed a black tactical bag, 434 blaster pistol, few grenades and data pad. But there was something else there, something what the hunter used to choose. It was...a butter knife?

,,A knife? Bit of an amateur job, but I think it will work well if properly used." Triple Zero, helpful like always, just had to comment how inexperienced her torture is in choosing a right tool of pain.

The hunter ignored Triple Zero's comment and only walked back to Aphra with the butter knife in his hand. He was circling her for a moment looking for a place to cut her first. he can't demange her too much, he still need to keep her vocal cords untouched. Then he noticed something shiny on her right arm. A few siny lines of electro tattoos.

,,Nice tattoos. Had to be expensive. But they are getting old, you need to refresh them." The hunter said slowly dragging the tip of the butter knife along the line of her cyber tattoos up to her shoulder.

,,You don't have the guts." Aphra said, trying to play though, she was almost sure that he is bluffing. He said that his boss want her alive to torture her, doing torturers now for will not put him in a good light and maybe even make his paymat smaller.

She was wrong.

He stabbed her in her shoulder's flesh, where her elector tattoos ends. He pushed the butter knife powerfully in her skin and keep it steady while blood was pouring out of her arm. Aphra yelled as loud as she could in pain and tried to move her arm away but he grabbed her with his second hand and keep her steady by pushing at her left shoulder.

,,Say the codes. NOW!" The hunter said when he twisted the blade around to make her suffer more. He yelled the lasts word to make sure that she will heard him while Aphra was screaming her lungs out.

,, **E CHU TA U!** "Aphra yelled in Huttese. It was all what she was willing, and could say in that moment with that knife in her arm. Butter knife. Good one, it is probably the sharpless thing she has on this ship and he used it to cut her with it. A spoon would be less painful that it, the guy really knows his stuff.

,,Listen. It doesn't have to be like this. I know your type. You are tough and you saw a lot of hell, it for sure is hard to break you. But it is possible, and if I could break rebialliants spies from Corelia and twi'leks rebelliants, I can break you too. Even if I will have to break every bone in your body like I did with them. Cooperate with me, and your last few hours will be painless." The hunter slowly and softly to her ear, with no rage in his voice like he actually meant it.

He even loses his grip on the knife and took his second hand off from Aphra's shoulder. For a moment, Aphra felt less pain and get a moment to caught her breath. As tempting as it sounded, giving him these codes would be a death sentence, the longer she is here, the longer she live, the longer she live, the more time she has to find a way out of this mess.

,,Go….To…..Hell."Aphra finally said when she felt than she may take a bit more now. Giving her time to rest was a mistake, she can take more that it, even if it hurts like a kriffing sarlacc stomach.

,,Very well. That's your choice." The hunter said not surprised at all, but a bit disappointed, like she, he has time limit and he need these code fast. Really fast.

The hunter was behind Aphra in one second, one arm on the knife and second on Aphra's left arm, and pushed the knife down, following her tattoos lines. Aphra again screamed as loud as she possibly could and tried to...tried to not say a thing.

The pain was worse than anyone can possibly image, the knife wasn't sharp wha means that it was not cutting her flesh at all, but more like tearing her by powerful pushes and he was destroying her electro tattoos while doing that so the pain was even worse. The hunter had to use all his strength to keep Aphra in place but it was easy part, the hard part was to push the sharpless knife strong enough to actually cut or tear her hard flesh and pull the knife down.

The knife now was close to Aphra's elbow and she really was at the edge of doing anything to stop the pain. Aphra was screaming, kicking, pushing, doing anything to escape from his grip, but she couldn't. She was trying everything just to not tell him these codes, but then the hunter pushed the knife deeper and Aphra could feel how the knife's blade was scratching her elbow bone.

,, **93478216!"** Aphra couldn't take anymore, her brain was working on a autopilot and forced her to do anything only to stop the pain. But the pain didn't stop, the hunter still was pushing the knife into her flesh. Aphra couldn't see, but she could almost feel the smile forming on this sick bastard face.

Then he twisted the blade.

,,Tell the droids to follow my orders!" The hunter screamed into her right ear while twisting the blade in. He could barely heard himself because of Aphras screams but he was pretty sure that she heard him very well. He wasn't wrong.

,, **DO WHAT HE SAY! WHATEVER HE SAY!DO IT!"** Aphra yelled to Triple Zero and BT-1 who were watching the whole scene from the opposite side of the room, they said something, but Aphra couldn't really say what, her screams were just to loud.

The hunter stopped twisting the blade when she yelled new order for the droids but he did not let the knife go. He pushed the knife out of her flesh really quickly and powerfully what made Aphra scream loudly one more time, the last time.

It was over. IT was finally over. There was no knife in her flesh and the hunter was no longer interested in Aphra who was now sitting on the chair, with her head hanging down like she was passed out, but the hunter knew that she is still awake. Her arm, once smooth, strong and with pretty black lines on it, was now a bloody mess. He should stop the bleeding and sew up that wound but there were some things he have to do now, and Aphra wasn't going anywhere.

,,Bravo. That was truly impressive operation for an inexperienced brutes like you mister. But since you are our new master I think that I shall introduce ourself. I'm 0-0-0 or Triple-Zero, if you prefer. I'm a protocol droid, specialized in etiquette, customs, translation and torture at your service master. This BT-1 or Beetee, highly equipment assassin droid." Triple Zero said as polite as he could even despite his poorly beginning. Beetee also said something to the hunter but Triple Zero decided to not translate it.

The hunter was watching them with his arms crossed on his chest and face blank like piece of paper. He listening to with a bit of irritation already forming on his face after Triple Zero started to talk.

,,Listen to me droid, really carefully. First. The name is Sergeant Armoriger, for you commander or sir." The hunter said when he walked closer to the Triple Zero and poked him in the chest plate giving him a clean signal with who he is dealing with. Not so good idea if you ask Aphra, but Triple Zero anyway always was waiting to kill his master even if they were nice to him.

,,Second, you are my droid now. That means you do what I say. If I say jump, you ask how high."The hunter said poking Triple Zero in the chest plate again this time a bit stronger.

,,Sir. I need to inform you that my mobility skills makes jumping imposible activity for me."Triple Zero said, clearly trying his best to not say any thread or so but everyone in the room could see and feel how he was holding back.

,,And the last thing. If you try to play smart with me I will get rid of you. Remember, I don't need a murderous torture expert droid to do dirty job for me like your old owner." The hunter said sounding really seriously and dangerous when he poked Triple Zero chest plate for the last time and pushed him back a bit.

After that short explanation, the hunter turned back to look at Aphra who was still sitting on the chair with her head still hanging in the air like she was passed out. She really was looking like unconscious but no one was really willing to check if is was okay.

,,Triple Zero. Give her some bacta shot and patch her up before she bleed out." The hunter said when he took to the data pad from the tabled and typed the codes down, then he turned around and started walk to the cockpit.

,,But sir. I'm not medical droid. My specialization is destruction of organics, not reparation." Triple Zero said surprised and offended at the same time by even idea of doing such a thing like helping a person who is just after torture sesion.

,,Then think about it like torturing her backwards. Just make sure she won't die." The hunter said to Triple Zero before he left the room and walked to the cockpit with the codes on the data pad leaving Aphra, Beetee and Triple Zero alone.

'Make sure she won't die' That guy just ordered Triple Zero to do something exactly against his nature, well cybernetic program but it's the same. He will have to use his toys of pain to fix his old master. Triple Zero already hate this hunter.

Anyway the interrogation went pretty well. Now Aphra know his name, purpose, limits, temper, and how arrogant he is. She was thinking about killing him to save herself, but now. Now she will make sure he get a special attention onto his way to hell. He destroyed her tattoos, he will pay her for that.

Few more hours later in the hyperspace on the way to Nal Hutta. 10 hours left

After the interrogation, the rest of the travel was rather boring. Triple Zero did his best patching Aphra up, he was using his favorite toys, complaining all the time what a waste of time, potential and skills he was using by doing that.

First he stopped the bleeding by sewing destroyed veins and drained the blood from her arm, then he used his energy blade to join teared flesh back together. and give her a E-bacta shot to help her wound heal faster. The results were rather impressive from a someone who have spend most of his existence, doing exactly opposite things, but Aphra arm was good again, or at least was looking better than before. Even the scar Aphra have now is hard to see, quite good medical work for a torture droid.

Aphra was trying to convince Triple Zero to help her more than that and just open the lock she have on her wrists but Triple Zero said that he can't do anything now when she personally give him an order to follow the hunter orders. He said that like she was willing to do it, or had any choice. He of all people should know the best that on tortures people can saying everything what they think will stop the pain they feel.

Anyway. The hunter haven't been in the room for a long time and Aphra had a time to think about her way out of here. There wasn't much she could do with her hands handcuffed behind her back and stuck on that chair. How irronical, she is used to keep her prisoners and Triple Zero victims here and now she is sitting on this very chair.

There is few things in this room she could use to open these lock, but they all are in her drawer on the opposite side of the room. She could try to move the chair but if the hunter could hear that and she really doesn't want to see what will be the next thing he want to stab her with.

Aphra was in the middle of planning when she heard that the hunter was coming back to the room. The hunter did not even looked at her when he walked to the room, he just walked to a first better locker and started to take thing out.

,,HEY!? What are you doing!?" Aphra asked when she was watching how the hunter was throwing her things out of it's places. The hunter was taking her tools, clothes and basically everything out and then he was putting it aside making a mess in the room.

It wasn't hard to figure out that the hunter was looking for he've got the codes he needed from Aphra, he put an autopilot on and started to look for anything useful for him, or dangerous what could be used against him in case if Aphra breaks free. The hunter already checked out the cockpit and other rooms in the Ark Angel and now he was searching the common room.

The things that Aphra could use to free herself were just taking away from her. While all her clothes, pads, and all personal things were landing on the floor, things like her tools, credits or bottle of water were landing into the hunter's bag.

,,HEY! These are my credits! And my tools! And my drink!" Aphra yelled trying to move the chair and stop the hunter somehow when he was putting her credits into his pocket, drinking from her bottle and packing her tools into his bag.

,,Wrong. That's my ship , my credits, and my drink now. Get used to it." The hunter said before taking another sip of drink from the bottle not event looking over his shoulder to look at Aphra. Then he took a hydrospanner from a drawer and throwed it to his bag but he missed and the hydrospanner fell on the ground and rolled onto the right corner of the room but the hunter did not bothered to go and pick it up and keep making a mess into Aphras things, the hydrospanner was too far away from her anyway so he had nothing to worry about.

As much as Aphra wanted to just jump on the hunter and beat the life out of him, she couldn't do anything but watch how he was messing her things up. The hunter was taking everything what could be used as a weapon or a pick to open the stun cuffs she is wearing there was a dozen of things like that all around the ship.

The hunter was searching the room for a longer while to make sure that there nothing is hide somewhere, at this time, Aphra was trying to do something to free herself or at least to stop the hunter from taking away everything what she may use.

Aphra thought for a moments, and she got one idea, not very good, but since the guy was a stormtrooper…. maybe she can sell something that simple? That is her only option to do anything right now.

,,I need to feed the sarlacc."That's the most cliché idea Aphra ever had in her live, but since she is stuck to this chair and it usually work she will give it a shot.

,,Not my problem."The hunter said not stopping his research without looking behind. These three words sounded like he was not giving a kriff about that, but there is also a option that he just didn't understand what Aphra said.

,,I see that you are too dumb to understand. I have to use the bathroom." Aphra said more simply and slowly to make sure that this time the guy will understand something that simply.

,,I have to bring you alive. Not clean. And I understand what you meant." The hunter said still not looking at Aphra and messing her things up in her lover cupboard kneeling on the floor. It was like he was moving in and he needed to remove everything from the ship, and he was doing this by throwing everything useless for him on the floor with no order or logic.

,,You are a kriffing nerfherder you know that?" Aphra insulted him, not only because of lack of manners but also by the way she saw him doing. Walking into someone ship, turning the place upside down, not showing a bit of respect and doing whatever he wants to. This guy is a walking definition of being a nerfherder.

,,Boy." The hunter said after a moment of silence stopping Aphra most offending thought about him. He said that a bit irritated, under his nose, not stopping his actions.

,,What?" Aphra asked confused and surprised. Surprised, because she just insulted him and he did not slapped her, punched her or did something what the guys like him are doing to a girls with big mouths. Confused, because it was only one word and she had no idea what he mean by that.

,,I was working for nerf Nerfherders as a nerfboy to get some credits to buy my first blaster." The hunter explained never stopping his actions and never turning back to Aphra. He said that like it was nothing, and it really was nothing important or serious, but after a few second of processing the information, Aphra could help herself, but laugh.

It was a bust of laught, an explosion of loud almost maniacal sound someone could heard in an asylum. It also was a long and collecting attention laugh, even Triple Zero and Beetee come back to the room to see what was happening and when they walked to the room...

They saw the bounty hunter kneeling on the floor in front of open closet but first time in a while doing nothing but kneeling there and listening Doctor Aphra's laugh. Aphra on the other hand was laughing her guts off, still handcuffed to the chair.

,,I can't believe that I got my ass kicked, stunned, and cutted up by a freaking nerfboy! Do you have the hat?!" Aphra asked in a small break between a laughing and breathing just to laugh a bit more, knowing that the hunter knows very well aout what kind of hat she is asking him. That maybe will be a reason of shame in nearest future when someone say that she got caught by a nerfboy but she has too much fun with it to care now.

,,Do I look like someone who is wearing a hat? The hunter asked when he stood up from the ground and turned around to face Aphra with arms crossed on his chest. Looking pretty pissed off, no one likes when someone is laughing you in the face, and someone with short temperament don't like it even more.

,,You were wearing a skull helmet not so long ago! Soo..!?" Aphra asked remaining the hunter and herself how terrible taste he has. Like really, who the kriff wears something like that, and if the guy was wearing this before, he had to have the nerfboy hat. Aphra bet her life that this guy has one of this lame hats.

,,I was wearing one when I was younger." The hunter said after a long moment of silence, rolling his eyes and looking away from Aphra. She even doesn't know why the hell he said that but she was right.

After that, there was another explosion of laugh from Aphra who could possibly heard even in the space around them. No one can hear your screams in space, but everyone can hear Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra's laughing at the bounty hunter who just captured her, and turned out to be a freaking nerfboy.

While Aphra was laughing her guts off, the hunter was fighting with himself to not shoot her in the head and take her dead body to the Hutt. As tempting as it was, the hunter choosed money and simply walked out from the room to the cockpit and tried to ignore Aphra's laughs.

At the same time, on the opposite side of the room, Triple Zero and Beetee were watching the whole scene in silence, not quite sure what what happening here. After a moment, Beetee could not stand it anymore and asked Triple Zero a few question in not so polite way.

,,No my friend. I don't know what a nerfboy is, but it must be something very humorous and ridiculous if it is causing such joy to Doctor Aphra." Triple Zero said to Beetee, still watching how Doctor Aphra could stop her non stop coming laughs.

Few Hour Later. 10 hours left.

Something is wrong. Aphra can't see where they are but she know that the ship have landed somewhere and since she wasn't taken by her hair and dragged to a hutt palace on Nal Hutta yet, it means that whatever she is, she still has a chance to escape, she only need to take these stun cuffs off and find someone who can remove that chip she has in her neck.

Aphra heard a steps from the corridor and turned her head to look at the doors. To the room walked the hunter, now dressing in his old and now a bit burned dark gray heavy greatcoat with only his 434 blaster pistol on his right hip. The hunter walked behind Aphra and uncuffed her legs and then her left hand from the chair.

,,What's happening, where are we?" Aphra asked when the hunter pushed her off from the chair and pulled her against the wall keeping her free hand begind her back. For a moment she was worried that he took a small break to relax himself, but then she noticed that he was locking her left hand to one of the grabbing handles on the wall next to her. Like every big or medium size starship, Ark Angel have a grabbing handles in case the on board gravitation turned off, they are pretty useful when there is no gravitation and someone need to move from place to place.

,,Shut up." The hunter said when he crossed Aphra's right hand over her left one and locked them to the wall's handle, making her face the wall. Something was up, the last time Aphra have saw him, he was mad, but now he was bloody, someone stolen my money, like, mad and she got a feeling that he did not told her where they are for some reason.

,,Excuse me sir. Can you explain me why have we stopped on this planet. What's the name again? Okonia? No, Oronia. Not that's wrong… Oh why planets has to have so many names? Orontia?" Triple Zero said trying to remind himself the name of the planet they are now. Lucky for Aphra, that may give her some advantage now.

,,Orondia. And we are here because I said are running low on the fuel. There is a fuelling depot and cantina nearby, run by an alien scammer. He alway charge double for the fuel. I hate this planet." The hunter said to Triple Zero while taking few things from his bag and typing something on his gauntlet. Aphra could not only hear the hate in his voice, she could **feel** the hate he was sending off. Someone has a short temper.

Orondia. That's bad. This planet is just a stone's throw from Nal Hutta, what is a stone's throw from Aphra being killed by the Hutts. But that's only half of the problem. Aphra know that place, there is a fueling depot here that's true, but there is also a not so small cantina on this station where usually is a lot of bounty hunters, pirates and renegades who probably already know about the price for her head. But maybe there is a chance that she may find someone here who can remove the chip from her neck.

,,I don't have enough credits to pay him. Triple Zero, you will come with me and you will help me to get a better price for the fuel." The hunter said to the Triple Zero when Aphra was thinking about possibility of escaping from the ship. That won't be hard without them, watching over her, Aphra just need some time alone.

,,But sir. I believe that my negotiation skill will not be very efficient in this peculiar situation." Triple Zero said, again remanding the hunter that his specialization are tortures and nothing else.

,,I don't need your negotiation skills. I need your needles, blades and everything else what you got to get free fuel from that guy!" The hunter said that like it was the most obvious thing in the galaxy, what was nice new for Triple Zero. Somehow, Triple Zero polite talk and his typical way of saying things was working on the hunter better than Aphra's insults and lies.

,,Oh! In that case. I'm more than happy to help." Triple Zero said very gladly what made the hunter groan in irritation. Aphra have got a feeling that this planet is not the only thing the guy hates. She may use it later.

The hunter noticed that Aphra was looking at him and Triple Zero and he give her one the hell of cold look who was giving her chills down her spine. Then the huter walked closer to the tabel where his bag, now full of Aphra tools, was and torsed it on his shoulder.

,,BT-1. You stay here, kill anyone who will do anything with the ship what's not giving us the fuel. And stun anyone who will try to leave the ship." The hunter said, turning his head first to Beetee and then to Aphra giving both of them the hell of creepy look.

Both Aphra and Beetee knew what the hunter was telling Beetee to stun her if she will try to escape by that but did not said a word. And like that, the hunter and two droids walked out of the ship, leaving Aphra alone inside, handcuffed to the wall.

Finally alone. But what now. Aphra is still handcuffed to the wall and the hydrospanner is still to far aways from her position to even try reach it.s But there may be something different what she can do. Maybe if she willl push really hand, she maybe will be able to knock the handle off the wall. It may hurt a bit but it's worth a try.

Aphra placed both of her legs against the wall and pushed her body backward, then she moved her feets higher and placed them on both side of the handle with her hands between her feets. Good that no one is here to see her now becasue she have to look ridiculously, standing on the wall like some kind of spider or other insect.

Now the hard part. She need to push it hard enought to knockt the handel out, good thing that Aphra still is wearing her gloves otherwise she could really hurt her writs and then she would need a medical atention more than escape. Trying to push it out with her hands is pointless, the handle is holding too thin on the wall, her best chance is to grab the handle, jump and hopes that she is heavy enought to knock the handle off the wall.

Aphra bend her knees and back, grabbed the handle with both her hands, and prepared to jump on three...One...Two...Three...JUMP.

Aphra said counted down and rapidly streght her legs, back and hands pushing everything what she got, and closed her eyes before she heard a sound of small metal things hitting againt the floor and herself falling down.

CRACK.

'Okay. Mental note. Firts, fix this handle, then get it and the rest of them something extra to keep it on the walls. Second, start some kind of diete without red meat.' Aphra thought to herself when she was lying on the ground after a paintfull fall from the wall, still holding the handle.

Aphra slowly raise up from the ground, dropping the handle on the floor and going to the room's corner to take the hydrospanner. It did not took Aphra long to open the cuffs and remove them from her hands, after all, she've had done it a lot of time in the past and she hopes to do it few more times in the future.

Without these stuncuffs on her hands, Aphra could just go to the Ark Angel's cockpite, wait a while for a bit of fuel and fly away from here, but she can't do it, not with this chip in her neck. The hunter did not take her with him to the cantina, what can mean only two things. Or he did not want other scums like himself to see her in the cantina and disactivated the chip, or the chip has some range and he simply is keeping save distance to not blow her head up.

Yeach. Not a chance that he disarmed the chip, no one is doing this, Aphra need to go and find someone who will remove it. The problem is, she need to leave the ship to do it, and it will be hard with Beetee patroling the platform outside.

That would be a problem, but that is her ship, and Aphra know every corner of her ship, and there is more than one way to get out of the ship, and she know them all. Like a small hidden doors at the top of the ship.

Aphra climbed her way out of the ship and now she was standing on the opposide end of Ark Angle and she could see the cantine not so far from her, the other thing she could also see was BT-1 below who was watching how few Bith workers were holding a big fuel's nozzles and putting the fuel to the ship's tank and everything around them.

Well, that's great, there is only one way from this platform to the cantina and Beetee just have to be looking at that side, he will see Aphra if she will try to walk down from the ship. Aphra needed a distraction.

It's look like the biths are done with their job, the noozle was in the tank, the fuel was going into the tank and workers were leaving the platform. Aphra could use it and go with them, Beetee won't see a difference betwee her and Bith, he wouldn't see a diference between a small rancor and human if they were standing side by side, for him all organics looks the same. Aphra just need to do something to make him look the other way when she will jump down from the top.

The only thing what Aphra could use to do anything was her hydrospanner. As long as Beetee don't need a quick reparation, she can just throw it away. What is not a bad idea. All she need, is to make some noises and Beetee with his temper, and hope for killing something, will go check out what make that sound.

Not waisting any time. Aphra throwed the hydrospanner at the opposite end of the platform and prepared herself to jump. Beetee heard the sound of hydrospanner hitting the ground and was riding at the other end of the platform with his blaster out before Aphra could even look back at him.

After a quick jump and short run, Aphra walked with Bith workers to the cantina thought the front doors. The cantina was looking like nothing special, just another dirty pub for criminals and people to poor to drink anywhere else, but at least they have a clean glasses and few HQ service droid.

The cantina have everything what it need exept of one thing, entertenment, There is no music band, twilek dancers, or even comedy droid. It's not suprising that everybody here were observing Aphra's every singel move since she walked in. Not like it is something suprising in her condision.

All dirty and dressed in nothing but her pants and T-shirt she need to look like an easy prey for all these pirates, assasins and other scums who are staring at her when Aphra was making her way to the cantina's bar whre the roboticall bartender was making drinks for the client.

,,Do you need something madame?" The roboticall bartender asked when Aphra sat down on the stool in front of him, not stopping his work even for a moment.

Now, what Aphra is suppose to say. She can't just ask if he know someone who know how to revome a slavery chip from someones neck because if she ask, she can be sure that the droid will send a signal to someone about escaped slaver, and there is a chance that the hunter will come here to check out himself. She need to play it smart.

,,No thank. I just want to ask something. Do you maybe know some doctor or someone handly with a scalpel?" Aphra asked trying to sound as naturally as she could trying to not make any suspicions. The droid stopped making a drink and turned his entire attention to Aphra. For a moment he was just watching her, or maybe scanning her and doing nothing.

,,Sorry madame. The closest medical office is located on Nar Shaddaa. You can get there with narest prom." The bartender said before he turned around and went back to other client on the opposite side of the bar.

Well, that's great. So on this station is no one with even a bit of medial knowledge, what means that there is no one who could remove that chip from her neck and not frixe her brain in the process. The hunter soon will be back and when he will notice that Aphra isn't on the Ark Angel she won't be even able to hide from him because of this chip.

,,If you need help I can give you a ride." Some new voice said from Aphra's right side. Aphra twisted on her stool and looked up on the person who said that .It was an adult weequen male, looking like some pirate or low class bount hunter at best, with a smile who was saying that he had a different thing on mind than giving Aphra a ride.

,,Sorry man. I'm not interested in this." Aphra said quickly and simply like a professional ice queen, but the weequen guy did not moved even a bit from his place, he just keep sittting there, staring at Aphra like at some piece of meat.

,,It wasn't a proposition." A familiar robotical voice behind Aphra said getting her chills. Aphra slowly and carefully swisted back on her stool and saw this what she was afraid to see. The person who said that was a black and tall IG-88 assassin droid, but that wasn't the worst. The worst thing was it that he wasn't alone.

IG-88 Assasin droind is not someone what you want to meet at a dirty cantine on bleak planet close to Nal Hutta, but IG-88 assasin droid, surrounded by a bouch of pirates and bounty hunters is something worse to meet. It was like every low profiled scum in the cantina gathere around Aphra and was waiting for her to do something.

,,Eee. You guys want something?" Aphra asked with her most faked smile she ever forced herself to made when she stood up from the stool. She was looking for a way to escape in case the thing gets...difficult, but it sounds like the bounty hunter literally surrounded her.

,,Your head. Dead or Alive. Your choice." One of the bounty hunter in the backgroud said when everyone around drew their blasters out and pointed them at Aphra who was still holding her faked smile, and asked herself if this day can get any worse.

At the same time on the opposite end of the cantina.

The dark dressed bounty hunter had spend last 10 minutes doing nothing but standing against a wall, right next to the doors who are leading to the fueling depot office where for some time now was the Bith depot owner, and Triple Zero who was told to do anything he want to change the Bith's mind about his fuel few more seconds of waiting, the office door's opened and Triple Zero walke out the office.

,,I have good news ser. I'm happy to inform you that this gentleman says he will be happy to give you as much of his best fuel as you want ser. For free." Triple Zero said to the bounty hunter, sounding as much proud and and happy as a droid possibly could. The hunter on the other hand was not looking so joyful.

,,Good. Kill him to make sure than he won't call guards and let's get the hell out of here." The hunter said to Triple Zero before he turned around and started to walk away from the office.

,,As much as I want to do it I simply can't. His heart was too old to keep full function after our little conservation." Triple Zero said wehn he was following the bounty hunter who did not aswered him but simply rolled his eyes and almost smiled a bit. Triple Zero may not be the brightlest person when it comes to human characters, but even he had to notice the behaviors of the bounty hunter, and he could not be more, impressed.

,,I need to say sir. It's a pleasure to work with someone who hates his own kind so much as you. I guess that it is the reason why are you such efficien when it comes to interrogations and abusing." Triple Zero said giving as much of respect as he could, thats not every day when he meet someone who is enoying killing and torturing other living things almost as much as he do. Almost.

,,What the kriff are you talking about?" The hunter said less mad but more suprised and confured looking over his shoulder to look at Triple Zero who was still walking two steps behind, then he slowed a bit and waited for Triple Zero to walk with him side by side.

,,Well. I couldn't help but notice how well programmed you are. You cleanly are not caring about organics and their lives, not to mention how much effort you used while operating doctor Aphra. It is almost abvious why you have chosen this peculiar way of work to live." Triple Zero explained the hunter actions from his point of view. He was watching the whole interrogation and he could see that the hunter was taking pleasure in totruting Aphra, maybe because she was a 'scam' like the hunter refferended to her, or because she was a female. Anyway, Triple Zero noticed it.

,,You don't undertand droid. I'm not in this bisiness becasue I like killing. Quiet opposite. I'm doing this, becasue every fight and every challenge and everything what may kill me is reminding me that I am still feeling something. That after everything I have been thought, I'm still a human. You will never undertand that." The hunter tried to explain Triple Zero as much as he could, what is the reall cause of this what he does.

To become a Death Trooper a man need to take a lot of crap and it's changing human's spirit and body. Being a bounty hunter is giving him kicks of emotion who are remaninind him, that he did not become some souless machine like Triple Zero or BT-1. That he is still alive.

,,Organics can be so complicated sometimes." Triple Zero said walking side by side with the bounty hunter after his small try of undestanding what th ehunter just said. Didn't really worked and the hunter only rolled his eyes as the comment.

,,Don't forget that you are here, torturing these people, only thanks to organics who are your favorite toys." The hunter chuckled to Triple Zero, smiling for the firt time in some time, when they almost walked to the main hale of the cantine where the bar was. And it is possbily the first time, when Triple Zero have nothing smart to say back.

,,Touché.'' It was all what Triple Zero said. As much as he hate the fact, without the organics in the galaxy, his existance would be kind of boring and pointless. Yes he could try to torture other droids and machines but torturing somethnig what has a programmed feelings is not the same what torturing a living thing. Not to mention the lack of blood.

The first thing what the hunter noticed was silence. There was no sound of chatting or drinking in the cantina what was stange that close to the bar. The next thing what was strange was it that the cantina was looking empty. All the tablets were empty, there was no clients and all the HQ service droids were standing aganist the wall next to his right, watching something.

The hunter and Triple Zero looked at the place where the service droids were looking at and they saw a gruop of maybe twenty other bounty hunters and hire assasins. They were talking, laughing and pushin some poor person aroud.

The hunter wanted just look the other said and leave the cantina, but he took the last look at the person who the hunter's were abusing, and he notice a sight of familiar long brown hair. The hunter was almost sure that he is wrong, he really wanted to be wrong, but when he heard a very familiar female groam of pain, he just had to walk closer and see if he is right.

The hunter walked closer and saw that he was right. The bounty hunters were pushing around a very beaten up Doctor Aphra. They tied her hands up and now were making fun of here, mostly beating her some more.

,,Triple Zero. Do you see it what I see?" The hunter asked not taking his eyes from Aphra and bounty hunters even for a moment. He was watching how the half of bounty hunters were arguing about who should take her with them and how second half was still pushing Aphra around, who could not fight too well with her hands tied up.

,,Yes sir I do." Triple Zero said also not stopping himself the pleasure of watching the free show in front of him. But it doesn't looks like he was the only one, the service droids all around also were doing nothing exept of watchnig.

,,Then do something about it." The hunter said to Triple Zero poiting his head at five HQ service droid who were standing next to them and Triple Zero was even more happy to oblige. Twenty hunters is a lot, and without Beetee it would be hard for Triple Zero and the hunter to kill them all, so Triple Zero is using his robotic programming skill to modificate these HQ service droids into something more...useful than serving the organics.

,,BT-1. Prepare the ship to escape keep the engines warm and be ready to go when I give you a signal." The hunter said to his com-link in his right wrist gauntlet giving Beetee a simply order. But instend of short answer, the hunter got a long line of squesl and astromech words, who the hunter did not undertands.

,,What did he say?" The hunter asked Triple Zero who was currently doing something with one HQ service droid head and wires, not even trying to hide the fackt that he doesn't know astromech droid's speech.

,,He said that he don't know how to fly." Triple Zero translatored never stopping his work with these service droids who were more happy than anything to help when they head what Triple Zero want them to do for a moment.

,,What!? You are an astromech, it's your basic function!"" The hunter yelled at Beetee, suprised and mad, before he got another loud and long series of very mad and embarassed astromech. He may not be the brightlest guy in the galaxy, but even he knows that astomechs are made to pilote a starships, and if BT-1 can open a doors on a space ship, he should easly fly a ship.

,,He said that he was never doing it yet and his piloting program can a little rusty." Triple Zero said when he was working on another HQ service droid, not waiting for the hunter to ask him another question. Triple Zero maybe is a slow learner, but he learn things, and translation is pretty much his, basic function.

,,I don't give a kriff just be ready to go." The hunter said to his wrist gauntlet and hung up before Beetee get any chance to say anything more than 'Yes ser.', but everyone know that he said something different and that's good that the hunter doesn't know the astromech speech.

,,Triple Zero. When I give you a signal. Kill everything in this cantina what is not a human." The hunter said to Triple Zero, turning rught to the group of bounty hunter and taking his 434 blaster pistol out.

,,That's will be a bit difficult. Can't we just kill everybody in here?" Triple Zero asked a bit disapointed looking up from his work on the third HQ service droid. The only answer he got was a cold look from the hunter who says that it will not be the last time he seens him and Aphra alive.

After that wordless explanation, Triple Zero went back to his work and the hunter again turned his full atention to the bounty hunters. Except of IG-88, they were all the same. Cowards who think that are dangerous. They are always in groups and the only people they are brave enought to attack are tied up women and defendless children. Alien scums like Weequay, Quarrens,Mon Calamari,space pigs and other worthless sons of banta who don't even know how to do their job corectlly.

Alone, they are no danger and they know it, why they are in groups, twenty men means twenty blasters, too much for a one guy, the hunter need to buy enought time for Triple Zero to prepare the droids and attack the hunter from behind. That's show time.

While the hunter and Triple Zero were talking and preparing theself for fight. Aphra was in bigger problem with every second. Without a blaster and backup all what she could do was kicking and punching them, and when they caught her and tied her hands up, only kicking. After a few tries of fighting back, Aphra was just too tired to even stand her ground and now she was kneeling on the floor with some blaster pushed to the back of her head while the other hunter were talking.

,, The hutt pays two hundred and fifty for dead or alive. That's more less thirteen thousand per head. That's is, if we will work together." One smarter weequay hunter, who probably never really learn his numbers, said to other hunters who were all standing in a cricle.

,,That's a lot. But could be more. And no one need twenty guys to delive a corpse" One Mon Calamari bounty hunter said looking at other bounty hunters, then at Aphra and back at the bounty hunters. All of them think that they could get more than just 13 thousand if they take only her body, the only question is who will get more. Aphra could just wait for them to kill themselfs and watch, but the problem was that the one who win, will the one who will kill her in place. Maybe escaping from a guy who wanted to take her alive was not so good idea as she thought it was.

,,You will get nothing." Some other familiar voice said and everyone turned around to look at the guy who said that. And that, obviously was the gloomy bounty hunter who Aphra knows even too well now.

,,Why do you think so pal?" Some weequay bounty hunter asked when he and the rest of the bounty hunters were forming a strainght line to hide Aphra behind them. It was looking like they were getting ready to dueling with the grim hunter and they haven't notice one dark protocolar droid and five small HQ service droids who were following him.

,,If you will take the woman, it will be stealing of my propertly because I have a chip in her neck. And I also took a contract to bring her alive to Narra the Hutt from Nal Hutta. You don't want to break the Creed do you?" The gloomy hunter said to the other hunters, watching carefully their hands and the blasters on their hips, backs or legs. They were not

,,The contact for her head is open. If anyone here is breaking the Creed, it's you pal." Another quarren bounty hunter said and he was right. The contract for 250,000 credits is free open, but the second contract who the death hunter took is private, so as long as Aphra undertand these rules, they all have right to take her. Not like she want to go with any one of them.

,,The only things I'm going to break are yor skulls if you don't give me her. **Now**." The groomy hunter said, choosing his words poorly like for someone outnumbere 20 to 1. Even a child know to not thread more guys than you can fight. And yet he just threated 20 guys who really don't like to be threated. And they say that Aphra has poor choise of word.

,, I don't think you undertand the situation you are in pal." The weequay hunture said, not touching his blaster yet, but his hand was dangerous close to it, just like every other hunters hands were getting closes and closer to their blasters.

,,I understand that when I count to three, the galaxy will be a bit better place to live in." The death hunter said, really asking for a blaster bolt in the head. Normally, Aphra couldn't care less about it, but if all what he said is true, when he dies, she dies too and that's not something what Aphra want.

If the atmosphere in the catine was think before, now it coulde be cut by a knife. Everyone who was not a bounty hunter or different kind of hirekiller were already gone. The only persons in the cantina now were Aphra, the dark hunter who caught her, twenty bounty hunters ready to shot and six droids who were now standing a foot behind them. Everyone were waiting for the groomy hunter to count to three and start the hell.

For a long time, the hunter did nothing, he was just watching his twenty opponents, who were just like him keeeping their hands close to their blasters, obserwing him just like he was observing them. Aphra was still kneeling on the floor with no blaster pushed to her neck anymore what was good. And Triple Zero with his droid behind the hunters were ready to attack. All the droids needed was some signal.

,,...One...THREE! NOW DROID!" The hunter yelled when he skipped the second number, drew his 434 blaster pistol, shoot two bounty hunters in front of him and started to walk to the other hunters, shooting at them in his walk.

The other 18 hunters were caught off guard by this,but it did not took them long to try to take their own blasters out. Some of them were stopped by five small and really fast HQ service droids who attacked them using tools, plates,cubs, chairs and everything they could use as a weapon. And the droids were killing the hunters pretty quickly.

In a matter of second, the cantina was full of screams, blaster shoots and dead bodies falling on the ground and in the middle of this was no one else but Doctor Aphra. First she thought that she could use the fight to escape, but there was too many blaster bolts flying around to even try to stand up so Aphra decided to stay on the ground. After a while of rolling on the floor, Aphra found pretty much save place to hide under one tabel.

Aphra was now save and have moment to see what was happening aroud her. She was watching how the HQ service droid were fighting with bounty hunters who could not shoot, and even hit them, the droids were just too small and fast for them. The only bounty hunter who was not being attacked by the droids was the dark hunter who brought Aphra here.

The death hunter also was fighting with other bounty hunters alongside with the droids. He was fighting...like a hound of war. He was like a dark, brutal and powerful storm and the other hunters were like weak trees, falling before him. The hunter was using his free hand to hit, or blokade other hunter's punches, and then was shooting in the hunter's stomachs, chests and heads. Sometimes the hunter was shooting in their feets, knees, or just legs and then, when they were lying on the ground, in their heads. And he was enjoying himself doing all of this.

The fight was really quick. After maybe five minutes there was only three bounty hunters left. One of them was the weequay hunter who currnetly had two service droids on him who were trying to break his neck. The second bounty hunter in the room was the death hunter who was almost done killing one of the hunters who was trying his luck with a vibroblade. And the last bounty hunter in the cantina, was IG-88. Who was prety much winning his fight against three small service droids.

The IG-88 was clearny winning the fight. These three service droids had no chance agains him. IG-88 was like a big black, metal, wookie and these three droids were like small humans for him. He was throwing them around, smashing them and punching them soo hard, that they monitors were breaking and their limps were falling apart.

The two service droid who were fighting with the weequey noticed it and the one on the top quickly twisted the weequey's head, killing him on the place, and then two service droids ran to fight with IG-88 before he kills the rest of serivece droids.

The dead body of weequey hunter fell on the ground, not so far from the tablet where Aphra was hidding, and it still had a blaster pistol in it's hand. That was the opportunity Aphra couldn't miss, she quickly jumped out from her hidding and took the blaster pistol from dead weequey's hand.

When Aphra looked up from the weequey's dead body, she saw that the fight was almost over. The only bounty hunters left alive were IG-88 and the death hunter. IG-88 was destroying the last working service droid and then, turned to the death hunter who also just turned around to look at the assasin droid.

For a moment, both of them freezed. They did not moved a bit and only watched themselfs. The thing what Aphra and the death hunter noticed was it, that the IG-88 did not have a blaster, he lost it in the fight with three service droids a while ago.

They both knew what it means, and the hunter shoot at the droid. But it's not easy to shoot a IG-88 droid, they are really fast for something as big as they are. The assasin droid easly dodged the blast then after two fast jumps, was right next to the death hunter and menaged to knock the blaster out of the hunter's hand. And after that, the hunter did something really stupid.

Just yesterday, Aphra thought that this hunter was a smart guy, he have found her in every place she was, and he also was always prepared for everything what was stopping him from capturing Aphra. But now she have changed her mind. Aphra don't think anymore that he is smart, this hunter is just another idiot like many other men in this galaxy, he is just more clever that others but still not clever enought.

The reason why Aphra think so now is this that any smart person wouldn't get a stupid idea to fight IG-88 Assasin droid in hand to hand combat. But that was what the hunter was doing right now. He was hitting, punching and kicking IG-88 like it was suppose to do any damage. And Aphra could not shoot any of them because they were fighting to close to each other. If she miss, she will hit the hunter, and then her head will blow up, Aphra prefer to not take that risk while her hands are still tied up.

Only an idiot could even think about a fist fight with IG-88. They are called Assasin droids for a reason. They are stonger than humans, faster, have a better reflex, don't feel pain, never get tired and there is also one more thing. They cheat a lot.

This IG-88 was no different. The hunter's punches were doing him basiclly no damage, only pissing him off. After a while, he grabbed the hunter's fist before he could hit him again, next IG-88 hit the hunter in the head, effectivly stopping his next attacks. Then the assasin droid picked the hunter up on one hand holding him by the shoulder, and preapared himself to hit. But before IG-88 punched the hunter, he activated a small wrist blade on top of his right hand, and then striked.

The assasing droid knew very well where to hit. He stuck his wrist blade right into the hunters right eyes, pushing the blade deep into the skull, causing a lot of pain and making the hunter scream in agony. The thing IG-88 haven't notice was it, that when he picked the hunter up, he cleaned the way for Aphra to shoot him in the head from the place where she was standing. The droid realized it holding the hunter in the air with the blade still in his eye, but it was already to late.

BANG!BANG!

Two shoot. Two blaster bolts. Both of them precise and steady. Both hit the IG-88's head and shut him down, sending him on the floor. Not bad shooting for someone with both hands tied up. Good think that it was not Aphra's first shooting like this.

,,Looks like the droid brought a blade to a blaster fight." Aphra said, more to herself than to anyone, holding her blaster up, watching the destroyed droid among the dead bodies of the bounty hunters who were beating her not so long ago. No need to say she was glad that they are all dead.

,,Who said that shit?" The hunter asked when he raised up from the ground, half holding, half covering his right eyes where the wrist blade was still stuck in, not liking Aphra's comment even a bit. When the IG-88 fell on the floor, the wirst blade was stuck too deep in the hunter's head and was causing too much pain to be just pulled back, so hunter decided to remove the wirst blade from the droid's hand insted of pushing if out of his skull

,,Some sucker from Corellia." Aphra said smiling wide open before she turned her attection back to the hunter and her smile was gone. She almost forget about him in the heat of battle. Almost. But there they are. Helping each other in a fight. And if Aphra is hearing right. For a moment there will be more bounty hunters and security service in there. So they need to .

Aphra started run to the cantina's exite and the hunter tried to follow her with the blade stilll in his eye, but he could not see half of the things and dead bodies on the floor and he was trippling after every two steps he took. Aphra had to go back to him, swang his left arm around her shoulder and tried to lead him outside, when something hit her.

,, Hang on a second. Why am I even helping you now?" Aphra asked when she stopped running with big, heavy and blood dirty bounty hunter hanging on her shouder, making her T-shirt dirty and stinking. As the answer, the hunter only side 'looked' at her and rised his right hand up showing her his wrist gauntlet with the picture of the chip inside her neck.

,,Oh right. My head will blow up if you die. Sorry. I forget." Aphra with her voice more than full of sarcasm and get back to running with heavy guy on her shoulder, more lest dozen killers behind her, and with few blaster bolts flying around her right now.

Aphra and the hunter were running as fast as they could to the Ark Angel, they could see how Triple Zero was already walking in and the enginess were ready to go, thanks the force that these guys who were shooting at them have worst aim than even imperial stormtroopers becasue in there had no cover at all on this platftorm. The way to the ship was wide open and no one tried to stop them so Aphra and the hunter quickly run to the Ark Angel. When they were inside, they were too tired to even stand on their feets, but the hunter had enought strange to take his com-link out.

,,BT-1! Get us out of this planet! NOW!" The hunter yelled into his com-link, even if he was loud enought for Beetee to hear him from the cocpite. But Aphra and the hunter couldn't undertand why the ship was still on the ground.

,, _Sir. The nozzles is still in the tank. The fuel will spill out if we move now_." Triple Zero said from the other end of the com-link transmission. Good think that it was Triple Zero, otherwise the hunter wouldn't undertand. Both Aphra and the hunter knew that they can't walk out and remove the top, the could heard how the hunters outside were shooting at Ark Angel. It give the hunter an idea.

,,Move the ship up a bit and turn around, and then send all the power to the engines but don't move." The hunter give Beetee an instuctions, lowering his voice in the process like he was up for something. Then he tried to rise up from the floor but he fell down. Aphra helped him stand up and then they both looked thought the windown.

Beetee did as he was told and he turned the ship around. When he did that, the nozzle who was in the tank fell off and after few second, everything in the outside was covered with the fuel. But like litterally everything was covered in that brown fuel. Bounty hunters, security forces droids, fuel barrels, entire platform, bridge and other things alongside.

The Ark Angel was still flying not more than two meters over the ground and was the engine's side to the fuel covered platform, Beetee first close the tank's doors from the cocpite and then send all the energy from the ship to the engines, not knowing why, but soon realizing it. Liking the idea very much and hating it in the same time because he couldn't see a think from the cocpite.

The starship's engines are very powerfull and hot machines, they generate a lot of heat every time when they are on. And when someone send all the ship's energy to them, they are pretty much large flamethrowers. It took them only a second to set all the fuel outside on fire, and everone around.

Aphra have seen in her life a lot of scary, gross and terryfaing things. She have seen the half dead Geonosian queen, genediticaly modificated space animals, even the Emperor Palpanine's face. But that sigh in front of here was going straight into her top ten the most horryfaing things. After all, it's not everyday she watch an entire space platform and at lest twenteen people on it buring alive.

The walls of the Ark Angel are thin, but she still could her the scream from outside, but that was not the worst sound, the worst was the sound of burning skin and the skulls exploding from the heat. Aphra couldn't watch anymore, buring flesh in a one thing, but exploding skulls and burnig brains all around is far too more for a one day. The hunter on the other had was still watching the entire scene, not taking his eyes off even for a second. The guy could easly competite with Vader in 'Who is the bigger Creep' tournament.

,,That's enought Beetee. Take us out of here." Aphra said turnig her head away from the window and walking to the common room with the hunter still hanging on her arm. That gross thing happening outside was one thing, but the hunter on her arm was getting heavier and heavier with every bit of blood he was loosing from his head.

Aphra walked to the comman room with the hunter and the first thing she did was to find some good place for him to sit where she will be able to remove the blade frmo his eye. The chair was not an option so she placed him on her tablet.

,,Lay down. I need to remove the blade and stop the bleeding before we both die. To do it, I need to have my hands free. So..." Aphra said raising her tied hands up, giving the hunter a clue about what she was thinking about. As much as the hunter hated that idea, he knew that without her help he won't live long enought to give a broken credit for her.

Not giving any verbal answer. The hunter took the blaster Aphra took with her and quickly shoot the handcuffs who she got from these bounty hunters back in the cantina off. It give Aphra some sweat of fear, after all, the hunter's aim is worst now than was before, and he shot dangerously close to her head, but she decided to not yell at a guy who still hold a blaster pointed at her.

With no more extra words, Aphra took the parts of destoryed handcuffs offher hands and moved closer to the hunter's head. The eyes was looking bad, there was a blade in it so it could not looks good, but it was looking live/brain demaging bad. IG-88 really stuck it deep into his skull. Aphra tried to grab the wrist blade, but the hunter groaned in pain, moved his head away from her, and pushed the blaster barrel to Aphra's stomach.

,,Listen dude. I have to remove it, so quit the pussy whinning and stay still or we will both die. And I prefer to live a bit longer." Aphra said looking into the hunter's eye with strenght and force in her voice, completly ignioring the blaster pushed into her stomach. If she has to die today, it won't because of this guy.

The hunter again did not said anythnig. He just keep staring at Aphra with fury in his eye, still keeping the blaster pushed into her lower stomach, not looking like being willing to cooperated. But after short time, he put his head down on the tablet, moved closer to Aphra, dropped the blaster on the floor, and grabbing at the tablets sides.

Aphra took this as an agreements and again slowly tried to grab the wrist blade in the hunters eyes. This time, the hunter did not stopped her and Aphra really grabbed the blade. The hunter again groaned in pain, closed his eyes and thinned his grab on the tablets sides.

Aphra give him a moment to take few deep breaths and wait for pain to pass. The hunter opened his eye up and looked at Aphra. His look have told Aphra that it hurts like hell and not try to do it gently. Aphra understood him, grabbed the blade with both of her hands, and used all of her strenght to push it out.

The hunter cried out in the pain, bowing his back upward, and holding the tabels sides like his life was depending on it. Blood was pouring from his eye, getting everywhre around the room and felling on Aphra's face and T-shirt. But she got the blade out. There was no time for flattering, Aphra quickly dropped the blade down and took one of her shirt from the floor. Then she rolled it into a ball simillar shape and pushed it agains the hunter's bleeding eye.

The hunter yelled again, this time even louder than before, and loses his grip on the tablet's sides. Instead of that, he grabbed each of Aphra's hands and tried to push them away, but Aphra did not let him to did, she just kept the T-shirt pushed against his bleedin eye, ignorig the pain the hunter was causing by holding her forearms that thing what was worring her, was his wrist gauntlet for some time was making a lot of noises and sounds like he was about to explode, not to mention a red color of it's monitor,

After few very long minutes of screaming, pushing and holding, the hunter finally losses his grip on Aphra's forearms and moved his hands to hold the T-shirt on his own. Aphra give him to do it and stepped back from tabel. She fell down on a chair behind her, put her hands on her face, tried to catch her own breath and clean her mind.

She moved her feet a bit and felt that she touched something. Aphra removed her hands from her face and looked down on the floor. Aphra noticed that she have stepped on the wrist blade she was trying to remove from the guy's skull not so long enought. Aphra quickly looked up, to see what the hunter was currently doing, and he was still lying on the tables with his eyes close, holding the T-shirt to his still bleeing eye. Aphra took this oportuninty and quickly picked the wrist blade up from the floor and hided it behind her belt. She can always use it later, when the chip will be disarmed.

,,Thanks." The hunter said, still lying on the tablet with his eyes close and Aphras T-shirt pushed agains his bleeding eye. His voice was weak and tired like after some hell, what propably was for him. He didn't know what Aphra was doing and where she even was, but he knew that he had to thank her at least.

,,Don't mention that. Saving you I was saving my own ass. Just keep that thing in my neck off." Aphra said from her chair trying to get comfortable, masking how scared, stessed and shaking she really was right now. It's now every day she is doing something than insane like that.

,,Oh No! Did we miss all the fun!? I told you to move faster you lazy bucket!?" Triple Zero said loudly and agnry when he saw the hunter lying on the tablet, Aphra sitting on the chair and blood litterally everywhere in the room. HE and Beetee stayed in the cocpite a bit longe, because Beetee started to undertands why so many astromech like piloting so much. Not to mention the big starship's blasters he can use while he is piloting a ship.

,,Good thing that you are here Triple Zero. You did good in the cantina. There is more work for you to be done." The hunter said to Triple Zero, raising his head up a bit to look at him. Both Aphra and the hunter were really 'happy' to again hear they irritating voices. After all, the droids are for some reason, and the reason is to do some wrok for humans, and cleaning the hunter's head from blood should be something what Triple Zero can do.

,,I just want to remid you sir that I'm **not** a medical droid." Triple Zero said when he was walking closer to the tablet where the hunter was waiting for him. If it was just draining blood out from the hunter, Triple Zero wouldn't say a word, but he knew that they want him to just drain this what was on outside of his body and then stop the bleeding. And that was something what Triple Zero not going to do.

,,And I want to remind you that I don't care." The hunter said to Triple Zero not taking his eye from him. And he had a good reason to do that. Aphra could see how Triple Zero was fighting with himself to not touch the hunter head and give him some deadly electrical shocks.

,,Okay boy, enough of it. Triple Zero. Giving him something for pain and clean his eye" Aphra cut in before the hunter could say something more to piss Triple Zero off and make him killing him and her in the process.

,, **NO!**! No anastetic! I won't pass out!...Not when you are free." The hunter yelled, and maybe Aphra is wrong, but he yelled that in fear. The part with anasteric and passing out was sounding like he wanted to jump over the window into the vaccum. Then he changed his voice and turned his head to Aphra, again sounding like a threating her. To be honest, Aphra was hoping about the option of stealing his gauntlet and simply disarm the chip herself. But for some reason the guy wanted to stay concious when Triple Zero will show him new definition of pain.

,,Very well. I anyway used all of the painkillers on Master Aphra last time" Triple Zero said when he stand behind the hunter and removed the T-Shirt from his head. The bleeding was stopped, but there was a pool of blood in the hole where once was the hunter's eye.

,,I have to warn you sir. It's going to hurt. A lot." Triple Zero said before he started doing anything with the hunter eye. As much as he hate doing anything mediacal like, the etiquette rules say that he need to say this kind of things before operation.

,,It's good. It's better to feel pain than nothing at all. Just do it quickly." The hunter said to Triple Zero before he lied down and again grabbed the tabels sides. Triple Zero had already prepared the needles and plasma blade and began the operation with no more comment.

At the same time, Aphra was standing next to the room's doors waiting for Triple Zero to start the operation so she could leave. 'Better to feel pain than nothing'. aphra know a certains black dressed someone who would disagree with the hunter about that, but she is was not working with Vader long enought to say something in his name.

Aphra leaft the common room and walked thought the hollway to one of the small rooms she is used to keep her things in. There was one room where she was keeping a useful or cool machines she have found during her adventures or she have stolen from somewhere. And there was one thing in that room she could use right now.

Aphra remember that one time she was stealing some thing who was kept under a force field, to break the field, she bought a small but powerfull signal transmitter to block the force field's signal. She kept the transmitter and hide it in one of her rooms, there was just one problem. She can't remember where it is right now.

She knew in what room it should be, and in what place it should be, but it wasn't there. Everything was.. well, everything was in some kind of order, but she did not put any of her things like that. The hunter had to do it when she was locked to the chair and when Triple Zero was operating her.

Aphra never was keeping her things in any kind of order and she always have a reason why. The reason is that she could never find a thing if there was any kind of order. For her, it always was like the things were hide from. Aphra's mother always was telling her that she should keep her place clean and in order but for Aphra, chaos was the best kind of order in her room.

Aphra did not had time to check every place where it should be so she was just removing the drawers from their place and throwing everything out of them. Aphra had to remove every single drawer and then throw out everything in them on the floor. She make a mess, but at least she could see everything now, Aphra fell on hr knees and started to look for the transimtter. It took her a while of searching on the floor but after all she finally found the signal transmitter.

,,Are you looking for something?" A dark and low male voice from asked Aphra from behind. Not thinking twice, Aphra hide the signal transmitter in her right boot before she looked up.

Aphra slowly raised her head up. She saw two persons standing in the door. The person close to her was the hunter with Triple Zero standing behind him. Aphra took a closer look at the hunters head and saw that Triple Zero did his job well. The hunter's head was no more covered in blood and the place where his eye once was, now was empty, and was looking even more creepy than before.

But the thing what caught Aphra's attention was the hunter's right hand. She saw that the hunter come here, with blaster in his hand. He was not pointing the blaster at her. Yet. He was watching her, knelling on the floor, with a lot of small machines and things around her.

,,What, are you hiding?" The hunter asked still sounding like a master of darkness, that was just a question, but for Aphra, it sounded more like a threat.

Aphra knew that the hunter for sure will recognize a signal transmitter, he maybe will not know for what Aphra would need one but he for sure will not let her keep one. Aphra was thinking that her plan is ruined, when she noticed something next to her knee right. It was a cybe eye she have stolen some time ago, for no reason at all, just for fun. Aphra slowly raised up from the ground picking the eye in her hand in the process.

,,I come here for this." Aphra said when she showed off the cyber eye to the hunter who was still keeping his blaster ready. The hunter looked at the cyber eye with blank face and then turned to Aphra.

,,You make all of that mess. Just to find an fake eye?" The hunter asked looking at Aphra, and giving her chills all the way down to her spine. He was even more scarry with this empty eyehole than he was wearing his skull helmet.

,, This eye is an cybernetical prosthesis, it is easy to install and remove, and also is full complatentical with human body, be glad that I stolen that thing few weeks ago." Aphra said holding the cyber eye up and putting her best fake face she got to mask her reall intension. The eye really could replace the hunter's lost eye, but that obviously was not the reason why she was here.

The hunter looked at her, then at the cyber eye she was holding and next at the mess on the floor she made. He saw how she was looking for something in a great rush, like her life was depending of it, and it for sure was not anything what was suppose to help him. But he did not have any proves and reason to do anything.

So he just hide the blaster into his hostel, walked closer to the Aphra and took an eye from her hand. Then he was watchnig the eye for a moment like it was suppose to kill him if he put it in. Next he again looked at Aphra and at the mess behind her, he doesn't sound to really believing her. But if the eye really was working, he could not miss that chance to again have right eyes.

Aphra was not expecting much to happen next. She though that she will hear another thanks from the hunter and then they both will go to the common room, she was not expecting from the hunter to take another pair of stuncuff out of nowhere and almost push them into Aphra's chest.

,,Really? Are you serious? I just saved your life! It wouldn't kill you to show some graditude." Aphra said crossing her arms on her chest and giving the hunter a straigh look. The hunter just kept looking at her with his cold look and waited for her to take the stuncuffs from him.

Aphra get that he won't show any kind of trust or graditude. Pretty smart decision. Anyway, Aphra rolled her eyes and took the stuncuffs from him and put them on her writs.

,,Here. Happy now?" Aphra asked and give him a look full of sarcasm when she raised her locked hands up to show the hunter that she really closed the stuncuffs. It's like third time she is wearing one of these things today, the singh of stuncuffs is slowly starting to pissing her off.

Again, the hunter said nothing, only turned around and leave the room, giving Triple Zero the cyber eye. Aphra was following the hunter back to the common room, where she again sat on the chair with hand behind her back and the hunter locked her legs to the chair's legs.

Few more hours later. In the hyperway to the Nal Hutta. Five hours left.

Five hours. That's how long Aphra is sitting on this chair alone, doing nothing but wait. She have heard Triple Zero and Beetee talking about something and she saw the hunter few times but he did not said a word to her, or even looked at her for longer than one second.

And the worst is this, that she has all what she need to disarme the chip and kill the hunter. She has the signal transmitter in her shoe and she still have the wrist blade in her pocket, but she can't use any of this when she still locked to this chair and with these stupid hancuffs on her hands.

,,Wake up." The hunter said sneakuing up on Aphra, suprising her. She was not paying attention to this what was happening around here and didn't hear him coming. The thing what was even more suprising, was it that the hunter was holding her clothes.

The hunter put clean clothers on Aphra's lap and uncuffed her legs. After that, he took two steps back and give Aphra a space to raise from the chair. Aphra looked at him confused, not quiet sure what he up to.

,,What's going on?" Aphra asked raising an eyebrow. It's not usuall for a bounty hunter to do such a think, not to mention that he giver her a clean clother but did not uncuffed her hands. Or it's a trick or the guy is not so bright.

,,We are close to Nal Hutta. As a person born in the Imperial Space, you are still an Imperial citizen. And every imperial citizen, even a criminal like you, have some right to use." The hunter explained to Aphra what was happening, in that way that Aphra still don't undertand a thing. Reading her blank face, the hunter rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.

,,Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra, soon you will be egzecuted for your crimes again the Galaxy. As the imperial laws says. You have right to one last meal. You have one hour to clean yourself up. After that time, the meal shall be ready." The hunter said officially and standing at attention as he was in some kind of court, playing a role of judge.

That was unexpected at least. Aphra knew that the guy was an imperial freak, but she wasn't expecting him to play a court here. Not like she was complaining. But there was a one problem.

,,And how am I suppose to do any of this with these on?" Aphra asked moving her hands a bit to reming the hunter about the handcuffs she was currently having on her wrists. The hunter looked at her like she just insulted him, but only rolled his eyes again and walked behind her.

Aphra heard the handcuffes being open with a key and she felt that the hunter removed them from her hands. She also felt something different and more familliar pushed into her back. It was a blaster barrel pushed against her spine. The guy is carefull, she need to give him that.

Aphra raised up from the chair, hodling new clother in her hands and walking to the refreshing room with the hunter still pushing the blaster into her back. Aphra stopped before the doors to the room and looked over her shoulder, giving the hunter a cold look who he could easly read.

The hunter understood the look Aphra give him and he took his blaster away from her back. Aphra opened the doors and walked to the refreshing room alone, but she knew that the hunter will wait for her under the doors, counting every minute she has to use.

It's suprising how good a simple shower can feel. You just have to not take him for few days, get all dirty and have blood on your face and even something so simple like a quick shower can feel like a day in spa.

But it was not a shower what Aphra was really interested in. After the shower, she put on a new pair of trouses and T-shirt, then took the signal transmitter out from her shoe and started to work on it. Aphra was working as fast as she could to find the signal who was comig from the chip in her neck, and the second signal from the hunters gauntlet.

When she finally found it, Aphra made a simillar signal who was stiong enought to blockate these two signals and the chip lost connection with hunter's gauntlet. It worked! It really worked! Or at least it was looking like that. Aphra couldn't be really sure, there was no way to check it out so she really hope that it work.

,,Enought of that! Come out." The hunter yelled, hitting the doors few time to inform Aphra that her refreshing time was over.

That was the quickets hour in Aphra's life but she used it well. Now, she use the wrist blade to kill the hunter and not worry about the blowing up head. Probably. The only question now is, when she have to use the blade.

Aphra hide the blade in her pocket again and opened the door. She was welcomed by the sight of a blaster right in front of her eyes and not so happy looking face of the bounty hunter who probably was waiting for her this entire hour.

Aphra walked back to the common room with the blaster pointed at her back the whole way. She saw that on the tablet where she was once operating the hunter, now was waiting for her a white plate with something baton similart to eat and a metal cup with something to drink.

The last time when she eat something was almost two day ago. She did not get a chance to eat anything while being hunted for two day so the food was a pleasant news for her stomach. Aphra did not waited for anything, she hoped on the chair and started to eat the thing on her plate. Just to spil ot out.

,,What is this?" Aphra asked before taking a snip of water, trying to get rid of horrible taste in her mouth. She never was having a problems in eating and never has a problem with bad food. She eat this what she cook so Aphra thought that she can eat almost everything, but that thing was too much even for her.

,,IMFR. Imperial Military Food Ration." The hunter said when he sat down on the chair on next to Aphra, to keep her on his blaster's endpoint. He took a new food baton with his free hand, and and took a small bite of food ration. Eating it like it was something normal to eat and was not tasting like burned fish.

,,How anynoe can eat it? It taste like metal." Aphra asked when she almost get ride of the icky flavor on her tounge. Almost. Aphra once heard that an army is as good as their food is bad. If that's true, then the imperial army is the best army ever.

,,But give you strengh to fight for taste will grown on you." The hunter said taking another bite of his ration. Tolvan said that Death Troopers were machines of war, if they were aeting only these rations every day, then Aphra is ready to belive that they really are more machines than humans.

As horrible as the food ration was, Aphra was just too hungry to not eat it. Yes, it was horrible, but at least it was something. Aphra knows, even too well, that anything is better than nothing when it comes to food.

Aphra was eating quickly and in silence, ignoring the taste and not caring about everything else aroud her. The hunter on the other hand was eating slowly and raising his eyes up to look at Aphra from time to time, still holding his blaster pointed at Aphra.

One food ration is suppose to fill the stomach up and be enought for one person, but Aphra was that hungry that she took one more baton and was eating it as fast as the last one. And the hunter was right, the second one wasn't even half bad as the first one. No matter how bad the first one was.

After the second food baton, Aphra decided to take one more, but this time she was eating slowly, taking her time and watching everything around her like she usually does. She noticed that the room was even cleaner than before..than ever before exactly, he hunter've had to clean the place up, there was no sight or smell of blood in the room.

Speaking of he devil. The hunter was still easting his first baton in complete silence, having his eyes almost completly on his plate, but Aphra knew that he could see any kind of movement, no matter fast or not. Aphra could easly take the wrist blade out and try to cut his throat, but he was still poiting his blaster at her and it would be a short fight if Aphra would do it now. She needed to move closer, or at least make him lose his guard. And Aphra know something very usefull, that the hunter has a short temper, all she need is to start a consevation and find a topic who will distract him.

,,So...Do you always feed your prisoners or am I special?" Aphra tried to...say something smart, intresting or just start a talk. She never was good at conservations, but at least she said something. The hunter on the other hand did not say a thing, not even raised his eyes from his plate.

,,You do not talk much do you?" Aphra asked, and again, the only answer she got was silence. The hunter did not answered her, just simply raised his eyes at her, and then again going back to him plate, acting like it was an answer. Aphra know a quiet types, but even Vader was not that quiet while talking with her. And it started to piss her off.

,,Okay! This is akward on more than one lever! How am I suppose to call you!? What's your name!?" Aphra slowly losing her patience and raising her voice a bit. It's not like she always can talk with a living, not totaly crazy person like Triple Zero, and now when she is litterally ballacing over her grave, the silence is the last thing she needs. And she still need to move closer or make the hunter lose his guard.

,,My...name?" The hunter asked confused raising his head up and looking at Aphra eyes for the first time in a while. As creepy as his grey eyes were, it was better if he keeps his eyes on Aphra than on his blaster, and now she have his atantion.

,,Yes! Your name! You do have a name!? Do you?" Aphra said loudly and sarcastically on the begginig, but after a moment, she read the hunters face and she saw that he was really not sure how to answer her. There was a silence after that, with hunter thinking hard about something, watching Aphra all the time, giving her a chills. But finally, after a very uncomfortable while, he dropped his eyes and went back to his plate and food ration.

,,Kriege. Kriege Armorigen." The hunter said before taking a bite of his half eaten food ration, leaving Aphra with nothing more but his name. Not like it was much, but at least they were starting going somwhere with the conservation.

,,I'm not saying that. How your friends call you?" Aphra asked, meaning that. There was not a chance she was going to say a name like this, and there she thought that she knows a stupid names. Solo for example, but there she is, sitting in on room with a guy who have even worse name that that.

,,My friends? My friends were calling me...Heh. I don't remeber anymore." The hunter chuckled and even smile a bit when he said 'friends' for the second time. The was a progress, small but always. Aphra is on a good way, now she just need to stay there.

,,I can't just yell 'Bounty Hunter' every time when I want something from you. You need some nickname. What dou you think about Nerfboy?" Aphra asked with a smile on her face, who was gone when the hunter raised his head and looked at Aphra with the look who could kill a rancor. It looks like somone don't like to talk aobut his teeneger job.

,,Okay. Stop that, your face is creepy enought without that look of your. Deathpal?" Aphra tried again with another smile with the hunter again did not said a thing, just keep staring at her with his face telling 'Really?' and raising his blaster up a bit to get a better aim at Aphra.

,,Deadhead?" Aphra said qucikly barerly keeping her faked smile on her face. It was the last thing she had in mind and she said that more a rush not thinking twice about it. But it looks like the hunter like it. Well he stopped giving Aphra the look, thought for a moment, snuggles, and lowered his blaster.

,,Why do you talk so much." The hunter answed after he lowered his blaster on the tablet, he was still holding it, but at least he wasn't poiting it at Aphra so that's better. And he even asked her a question. That's stange, but Aphra's plan sounds to work so far.

,,Well, I don't have a lot of friends and for more less three hours I will be dead so I want to spend my last finall hours in a nice company." Aphra said in her typical sassy way of saying things, and the only part where she lied was the nice company part. And the hunter sound to know that.

,,Then you should call someone. I will call it your last wish before death. Who do you want to call. Not your father that's for sure. Black Krrsantan?Hm. No. Maybe Lieutenant Tolvan or Sana Starros. I know that you two had...Akhem...Episode." The hunter said choosing his words really carefully, and sounding like he has something more to say, something more rude than it. Aphra had heard this kind of voice before, usually when she was talking with her mother about her relationships. But now Aphra was not carring about that. The thing what the hunter said was more suprising for her than anthing.

,,Wait. You're saying that...Tolvan is alive?'' Aphra asked slowly and caught off guard. The last time when she saw Tolvan, they were both trying to survive in the riots on Kessel. The riots the hunter here started when he was chasing her. Then, Tolvan tried to buy Aphra some time to escape, but it wasn't much, and that could only mean that she died quickly.

,,I didn't kill her. What do you think I am. A monster?'' The hunter asked, sounding a bit offended. But his answer was a great news for Aphra. It was like a heavy stone just fell from her shoulders. But she could show how happy she was to heard that.

,,Well. You set on fire a fuel depot full of innocent people, and I thought that you don't care about killing women.'' Aphra said masking her smile, changing it into a cold face and rubbing her right arm with electro tattoos on it. One of the black electro lines was destroyed, the scar was not easy to see, but it was there, and the hunter still has to pay her for that. If Aphra's plan will work out, he will pay her soon, very soon.

,,They were a worthless aliens scums. They did not deserved to live. She is an Imperial officer, she deserve to be respected, and you should respect her more.'' The hunter explained, and he could not chose his words worse that this. Because in that moment, Aphra've lost her shit.

,,Shut up! You don't know what are you talking about! Why do you thing I want to keep her away!? To protect her! I want her to stay far away for me because I want her to be safe.'' Apra yelled at the hunter with fury in her voice and fire in her eyes standing up from her chair and smashing her fist on the tablet. She is just sick and tired of all people who are thinking that know what she is doing. Not to mention that she is sick and tired of being captured by this guy who think that he knows her soo well because he have read her files.

,,Are you sure about that? For me. It looks like you are trying to push away everyone you care about. Not to protect them. But to protect yourself. You are afraid that they will hurt and betray you. so you hurt and push them away first, even if you know that they only want to help." The hunter said slowly, mocking her, with calm voice not moving a bit from his place and not even raising his blaster up, like he knew that Aphra was not goining to attack him now. Not yet at least.

Well. That's just great. The litterary last thing Aphra need now is an imperial philosopher. It's like talking to her psyhiatric all over again. She is saying one, and they are getting totally different guy really suck at talking to a girl, he had so good oportunity to flirt with her and he waisted it. Are all imperial guys like this or he and Tolvan are exceptions?

,,You don't know how to talk to a lady right?" Aphra asked when she sat back on her chair with her arms crossed like an agry child. She was using a doublehands blade, and she hurted herself when she wanted to cut the hunter with it. For a guy with a short temper, he was staying cool far better while talking with Aphra than with anyone else she have seen him talking to.

,,No." The hunter answered simply, going back to his food ration and again watching his plate not Aphra. Propably damn proud of himself. The thing what was good in that, was this that he was no longer paying attention to Aphra, and he sounded like he was slowly loosing his guard. Aphra meybe have lost that last talk with him, but she can change that defete in a victory yet.

,,I quess that a guy like you never ever have been on a date?" Aphra said with a small sassy smile slowly forming on her face. The atmostphere in the room was slowly getting better and better and that talk slowly was starting to sound like a normal conversation between two people. And above all of this, the hunter was paying less and less attention to pointing his blaster at Aphra.

,,I was. Once. At the end of my academy." The hunter said, still not taking his eyes from the plate and eating his food ration. He was almost done with it, even keeping a smile on his face while talking about that. That was good,

,,It doesn't count if it was your sister or cousin." Aphra tried a deep water and said a joke who was suppose to check how far she can go and moved a bit closer to the hunter. She did not get slapped or stunned by the hunter, but the look he send her was more suprising that any of that.

,,But she needed some sweet loving before death." The hunter said, raising his eyes up to look at Aphra's, sending her a dangerous, honest look, with a small, evil smile on his face, and Aphra knew. He wasn't joking.

That for sure was unexpected. She knew that the guy was a creep, but she did even think that he could be...that big creep. She was staring at the hunter with her eyes wide open like an nerf about to get hitten by a speeder. The hunter on the other hand was still watching Aphra with the same smile he had, eating the last bit of his food ration.

,,And no. I have a lot of experience with women. But they were usually short." The hunter said, breaking a heavy and uncomfortable for Aphra silence. He had finish eating his food ration and was waiting for Aphra to wake up from the shock she was in.

Aphra shook her head and cleaned her head. She decided to forget about the last information about the hunter and get back to making him dropping his guard. Playing smart wasn't working on him, jokes also were uselles. So Aphra was forced to use every woman secret weapon.

,,A free drinks twi'leks?" Aphra asked giving him a faked smile. This is this kind of topic everyone is willing to talk about and that's the best way to get closer to someone. Everyone is watching twi'leks dancers, even Aphra is, he can't be a exception

,,I usually don't fraternize with alliens. And I also don't approve any species mixing." The hunter said losing his smile but not changing his voice, suprising Aphra a bit, but she probably should be expecting that. Aphra have fotget that he is a full blood Imperial, the guys like him are usually like that.

,,You had to have a lot of interesting conversations." Aphra said crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. She alredy know that this guy hates droids, alliens, rebelliants...and probably thousand other things too. How he could survive in this Galaxy that long with this kind of attitude.

,,With some people yes. But they were usually short." The hunter said, smiling a bit again. It looks like he is enyoing pissing people off alsmot as much as shooting their brains was not what Aphr awas planning, but it's work, the hunter's guard is almost entrirly off.

,,Let me guess. A lot of Ohs, Ahs and Hahs." Aphra said, imitating the sounds of suprised, offended and disquesed people. The sounds she is usually hearing when she says something to people with limited minds. The people of this hunter kind apperantly. Killing him, Aphra will make a favor to the Galaxy.

,,A lot of crying. Screaming. Begging for mercy." The hunter said, changing his voice tone in one second. Before, he was sounding alsmot like a normal person, but now, he again was sounding like a serial killer on a job, and Aphra was his victom. In just one second, the nice atmosphere in the room was gone, and it again was like dark and dangerously.

,,Did that help them?" Aphra asked uncrossing her arms and moving her right hand into her pocket where the wrist blade was. She already know the answer. After everything she have seen, everything what she heard, and everything she have read about the hunter. She know that he did not spared anyone's life. He had to kill a lot, but Aphra will try to make sure he won't kill anymore.

,,Not. A. Bit." The hunter hunter said, watching Aphra's every move. And then he did something unexpected. He hide his blaster into his hostel and put both of his hands on top of the tablet, never taking his eyes away from Aphra.

The hunter was challenging her. Somewhow he knows, Aphra don't know how but he knows that the chip doesn't work and that she can kill him now. The question is, if she will try. If she will do it, she will be free, and she is already on the way to Nal Hutta where Narra the Hutt is waiting for her, just ready to be killed Triple Zero and Beetee are more than able to kill every guards on the planet. But if she will miss, if the hunter will stop her or dodge the strike, the Force know what he will do to her. Maybe he won't kill her, but this time she may lose something more than few bits of blood.

Doesn't really matter. Aphra is still the hunters' prisoners and they are very close to Nal Hutta where Aphra will be sold like a slave and probably publicaly killed if not worse. What difference it is? To die here or in some Hutt's palace? The only difference is, that here, she can die in fight, with weapon in hand.

Aphra have made her choise.

It was just a second. Everything what Aphra needed. She pulled the blade out of her pocked, took a swing, and pushed it agains the hunter's throat. The blade was on his skeen, from a small cut the blood was going out, but he was not dying, the blade was not that deep to kill him. Why? Because the hunter caught Aphra's hand before she could push it any deeper.

That was the moment Aphra undertoood why the hunter hide his blaster. He knew that Aphra will attack him. He only did not know how she will do it. With blaster in his hand, he could not blokade some of the attacks Aphra could possibly try, so he hide his blaster, and then had both of his hands free to stop Aphra's hand.

Aphra was using all of her strengh to push the blade into the hunter's throat. But it wasn't working, the guy was just too strong, he was boxing with IG-88 he had to be stong. When Aphra was trying her best to cut the hunter's throat, the guy was just sitting on his chair and was watching Aphra with a creepy smile on his face. This kind of smile Aphra just can't stand, so sch punched the hunter in the face to wip this smile, and break his nose.

It have not done much, the hunter still was holding Aphra's hand too thin for her to stab him, but his face said that he was not expecting this. And the smile was gone from his face, so it means that Aphra's punch hurts. Hurts enought for the hunter to get mad, punch Aphra back right accross the right cheek, and pushed her off the chair.

,,Oh they are trying to murder each other. How cute."Triple Zero said watching the whole scene with standing next to him Beetee, at the opposite side of the room. They were watching how the hunter currently was trying to pull the wrist blade out of Aphra's hand and how Aphra was hitting him in the stomach in the process. They were watching the fight in silnece until Beetee asked triple Zero a question.

,,Who do I think will win? Ummm...Well since Doctor Aphra's hand to hand combat skills are now limited and her opponent is twice stronger. I'm afraid that it is the day when Doctor Apha dies." Triple Zero answered never stopping watching the fight. And he was righ, even with bacta E shot, Aphra's right hand was still not fully recovered, and the hunter knew it very well because he hit her in the wounded arm before she could hit him in the head. But Beetee sounded to have different oppinion about how the fight will end.

,,What do you mean that she has bigger 'balls' than he. I must tell you my blaster addicted friend, that I know everything about human female anatomy and I'm sure that you are wrong." Triple Zero said confused, not undertanding completly why Beetee have choose this peticular words to say that he was sure about Aphra's will win this fight, but Tiple Zero was more interested in watching the fight than asking about astromech's slang.

After the droid's small talk. The only things what could be hear were groans, cries and sounds of two humas fighting each other. Aphra was holding her ground pretty well, but the hunter was far better at close combat fight than she was.

It did not take a lot for hunter to make Aphra hit the deck and caught her throat with both of his hands. Aphra was trying to push the hunter off of her, but he was too heavy for her and pushing too strong at her throat. Aphra hit the hunter in the ribs several times, but the longer he was choking her, the less streng she had to keep hitting him. Aphra was trying to push hunter's hands off but he was holding to stong.

Aphra quickly was losing air in her lungs and the fear and panic was making her moving like crazy, doing everythingto make the hunter lose his grip on her throat. She was kicking, scraching, doing anything, but the world slowly was getting darker and all live was getting away from her.

The hunter was sitting on top of Aphra watching how life was leaving her, it was not his fist time when he was chocking somebody to death. But he still needed her alive. The hunter shook his head and take his hands off from Aphra's throat when she was almost passed out, or maybe dead.

,,You are lucky that I prefer a million credits on my count than your worthless life." The hunter said when he stand up from the ground and reseted his nose. For a small lady, Aphra is stronger than she look, killing her would be really the same moment. Aphra was still lying on the floor, desperaatly trying to get air back into her lungs.

,,Ohhh. You like it don't you!? To beat me, watch me suffer, and make me bleed. Am I right!? You are just another sick son of bantha!" Aphra cried out to the hunter when she could breath normally again, still lying on the floor. It's not even the torutes or the talk they had more less fice minutes ago. Everything in this guy is just saying that he is a sadistic bastar who just love to abuse people different than him in some ways.

,,Stop trying to hit my sentimental spot I don't have one. But if you must know then Yes! I enjoy it." Theh hunter commitet when he again kicked Aphra onto her stomach. grabbed Aphras hands behind her back and put a pair of stuncuffs on them. Then he forced Aphra to stand from the ground and pushed her to the interogation chair.

,,I know what kind of man you are. A guy like you doesn't kill just because someone pays him for it. You enjoy killing others, you are just another cold bloody killer." Aphra said withto the hunter with hate in her voice, when he was locking her legs to the chair's legs. It's not hard to see who this guy is, he is not even trying to hide it.

,,So are you. Just look with who you are hanging around everyday. Your only friend is a half crazy bloodthirsty wookie and your sidekicks are murderous droids. I am a killer and a butcher, but you are worst than me. You are worst, because you are trying to deny it, playing a hero from time to time working with a rebelliant scums like Organa or Starros." The hunter yelled at Aphra, clearny showing what part of her he hates. And, it hard to believe, but he shut Aphra's mouth up. He really got a point, if you look at this from that point, Aphra really is almost that evil as he is, just in different way.

Wow. It's really a lot to think of. A guy who was butchering villiages, torturing innocents, raping, plouging and doing probably even worse things, just in some way proved that Aphra, in her selfish, insane and humorous way of life is more evil than he is. She never was thinking about herself as a 'good' person, but she was never thinking that she can be some kind of a monster like Vader or this hunter here. But... The hunter has have a point.

Aphra really could be some teacher is some rich school doing some boring things for more money than she is currently stealing, have a big house, live normal life and be happy ever after. But it not what she want, she never wanted to be normal, never could, so she is what she is. And it turns out, that she is one of the bad guys in this story.

The hunter was expecting to heard some more angry, proud and offending words from Aphra after that, but it never come. It was more suprising than anything to see that she was just sitting there on that chair, thinking really hard about what the hunter just said.. Not knowing what to do next, the hunter left Aphra alone and walked to the cocpite.

Two hours later. One hour left to bring Doctor Aphra to Nal Hutta.

One hour That's more less one and half of a parsec. That close the Ark Angel is from Nal Hutta and the distans is getting smaller with every second. That's or an hour to get a million credits, or to be blasted in the back when the Ark Angel leaves the hyperspace.

After they small escapade on Orondia, propably every bounty hunter in the Hutts Space knows that Doctor Aphra is getting closer and closer to Narra the Hutt and they all want these 250,000 credits for themselfs. And the hunter who currently is having Doctor Aphra with him just broke the Bounty Hunters Creed by killing all of that bounty hunters back on the fueling deport. The contract is free open, so he isn't been marked by the Guild for killing them, but he can expect now that every bounty hunter on Nal Hutta and Nar Shadda will be waiting for him to shoot him in the back. And there is a lot bounty hunters on both of these places.

As long as the Ark Angel is in the huperspace the hunter can't change the course so he can expect a lot of bounty hunters just waiting for him on the planet's or moon's orbite to attack him when he will leave the hypertunnel. Fighting them is not likely to be an option, not with the hunter's piloting skills.

There is a one trick the hunter knows who could work out and get him on the Nal Hutta easly, but is hard and he can't do it alone. Triple Zero and BT-1 also can't help him, so there is just one person left on the ship who for sure can do what the hunter needs to be done, but the person is his prisoner who is too tought to be forced into helping him.

Since their talk, the hunter left Aphra alone and did nothing to her. He found the signal transmitter and destroyed it so the chip is again working and Aphra again theorytically is his property and can't kill him, but none of these thing can make her help the hunter in bringing her to Narra the Hutt. So the hunter have to just ask her for help and then think something out.

,,Can you send the rescue pods off from the cocpite?" The hunter asked standing in front of Aphra who was still locked on the interogation chair. What suprising was, she did not answered him, not so long ago she could not shup her crap up and now she was not even lookin at him.

,,Hey! I'm talking to you! Can you do this or not!" The hunter answed poking Aphra in the right cheek with his blaster barrel to get her attention on him. Worked pretty well, maybe even too well.

,,Why should I? To help you get on Nal Hutta where I will die? Piss off." Aphra saidwith her voice full of sarcasm and anger. The last thing she is about to do is helping the guy who want to sold her off like an old shoe and then throw away.

The hunter understood her, nothing suprising that a prisoner doesn't want to help his captor. Violence is pointless, hurting Aphra will make her just more against the hunter, and if he will hurt her too much she won't be even able to help him anymore. But pain never was the best motivation, the best motivation, always is, fear.

,,I'm not asking you to help me Doctor. But to help yoursef."The hunter said crossgin his arms on the chest and smiling in a way someone can describe as sassy. The hunter was talking with less sense than even before, maybe Aphra have hit him to hard?

,,If you won't help me now. My trade friends who probably waits for us now, will blow the ship up, and take your body to the Hutts, That's if they will find your corpse in the vacuum." The hunter explained slowly and mischievously. And his arguments were working.

The hunter reminded Aphra one reason why she is lucky to be with him. This hunter signed up for a 'Bring Alive' contract, when everybody else chosen dead or alive, and almost every bounty hunter always is choosing this first option than the second one. The hunters who are waiting for them will not even care if all they get will be Aphra's hand, feet, or head, all they care will be some proof that she is dead to get the reward.

,,What do you want?" Aphra asked, narrowing her eyes and getting sick of the hunter's smile. As much as she hates this idea, it's better to help him and live a bit longer than die in a explosion.

Th hunter was smiling even wider than before and chuckled a bit. Aphra was thinking that he should write a book 'How to be a creep'. Then he unlocked Aphras legs from the chair and led her to the corridor where Ark Angel has the escaping pod, where Triple Zero and Beetee were waiting for them.

,,I need you to reprogramme the espacaping pod to be send off from the cocpite. We will send it when the bounty huters will attack us. They will catch the pod expecting us inside, but instead of that, they will get this." The hunter said, poiting his blaster at escaping pod's one doors. Aphra walked closer to the pod to look inside,

Inside of the escaping pod was a lot of different kind of: granades, bombs, amunition to Ark Angels blaster cannons, proton torpedos, and basically everything explosive what was on the ship's board, Aphra even saw few of Beetee rockets and flue cannister from his flamethrower. The escaping pod was now one big bomb, powerful enought to send more than one starship to hell. That...is a good and well prepared plan. The guy really know his stuff.

,,Nice. But I need to have my hands free to do anything" Aphra said showing her locked hands off to the hunter. She could reprogramme the escaping pod with the handcuffs on easly, but she prefere to have hands free.

The hunter sounds to knew very well that Aphra was more than able to work with her hands locked but decided to not oush his luck, after all, she agreed to do what he said, so he only rolled his eyes and unlocked the stuncuffs and again pulled his blaster out to point at Aphra.

With her hands free, Aphra took the hunter's black bag from the floor and get to work on the escaping pod's program. She first removed the pod's computer, then hot wired the system. For a moment, Aphra thought that she could use the pod to escape from Ark Angel, the hunter could not stun her with the pod's doors close. But then she reminded herself about the slave chip in her neck so espacing is not an option this time. Even if he won't blow her head up like most slavers do, he still could easly track her down after.

,,Why don'y tou do it by yourself?" Aphra asked while working on the pod's system program. Reprogramming this kind of things is easly for almost everyone who at least once was having a droid, Aphra herself was chacking things like this pod when she was twelve. And it is the hunter's idea so he had to do it in the past.

,,I can't." The hunter said watching Aphra working from the corridor leaninh against the wall, keeping his blasteron his hip, poiting it more less at Aphra's back. From his voice, Aphra read that he don't know how to do it. Death Trooper or not, imperials don't lear their special force soldiers any basical programming.

,,You should spend more time in school studing these things, and less time killing innocent people." Aphra said not stopping her work, she did not even needed to, she could do it in her sleep, with one hand tied up behind her back. This guy probably could do it with a manual instruction and holo video how to. Imperials propably care more about burning and slaughreting.

,,Don't try to play saint here. I do what I do because it's the only thing I can do. You..." The hunter said, getting angry at Aphra for the first time. She was trying everything she got, and all what she needed was to doub his intelligence, she should start from it in the first place. But Aphra was no longer caring about that and she cut the hunter off before he could say again how horrible she is.

,,Yes yes yes I know. I'm the bad guy here. Guess that make you think that you are a hero here?" Aphra cut in before the hunter could say anything more. They all think that they are so wonderful, nevermaind if they are Rebelliants or Imperials, they all are the same.

,,Please. The last thing I want to be is a hero. Heroes are stupid and naive. This Galaxy doesn't need more heroes, it need an order. And the Empire is this order." The hunter said, again sounding like a propaganding spot from holonet the imperials are non stop playing. Why did he had to be one of these guy, he really should have talk with Tolvan, they have a lot of common topics to talk.

,,Wow. So you really are stupid enought to believe in the Empire." Aphra concluded, saying it sarcastically enought for the hunter to undertand that she is not into this kind of talk. Like she doesn't have anything better to do than listening to a imperial freak.

,,What does that mean?" The hunter asked offended crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. Or he really doesn't understand what Aphra said or he is just the cluess person Aphra know.

,,The Empire is killling, enslaving and destroying everything what is not like they think it should be. How anyone can think that they are the good guy in the Galaxy?" Aphra asked looking around her shoulder to show her point. Aa guy who was doing all the imperial dirty job should know the best that the Empire is nothing like the imperials says it is.

,,How many alliens is in the Galaxy?" The hunter asked, suprising Aphra. She was expecting to get slapped, hitted or abused in some way, she was not expecting from the hunter to change the topic so quickly. Aphra was too suprised to answer the question so the hunter did that for her.

,,In our galaxy lives 19500 trillions of allines. At last. And there is only 8500 billions of humans. At best. That's simple math Doc. Or we will kill them, or they will kill us. No one says that the Empire is good. It's just smaller evil." The hunter explained, sounding more resonable than anyone could think. And there was a logic in this. Crazy, rasist and paranoic logic, but still some logic. At least he was not one 'For the Glory of the Empire" guys.

Aphra was left speechless after this. Not that she couldn't say something back to him, but she just did not wanteto, and there was no point in doing this because no matter what she say, the guy is just too stubborn to change his mind.

Anyway, Aphra was done with her work and was ready to go. She collected the tools from the floor and walked out of the escaping pod. She looked back for the last time to see again all of the explosives who were inside.

,,Are you sure they waits for us? Maybe they are on the planet's surface preparing a trap." Aphra asked the hunter before Beetee locked the pod's doors. If the hunter is wrong, they would be completely defendless and without a escaping pod if something happen.

,,Yes I am." The hunter said when he took the bag from Aphra and walked behidn her. He pointed the balster and her back and pushed her a bit to make her walk foward.

,,How can you be so sure?" Aphra asked when she was walking to, whatever place the hunter wanted her to go. Not having any guns is bad, not to say that if at least one lucky shoot will hit someplace close to that pod, the Ark Angel will be only ship who will blowed up.

,,Because it is what I would do if I was them. I would wait behind Narr Shadda where you wouldn't see me coming. I would shoot you in the back, destorying your engines and life supporting system. Then I would abord the ship, kill you before you could kill me and take your corpse to the Hutt." The hunter explained when they both were walking thought the Ark Angel's corridors, they have passed the common room, armory, hangar and everything in between. The only place where the could go now was the cocpite.

,,Would you buy this trick?" Aphra asked still walking forward with blaste between her shoulder's blades. The hunt much said what he would do, but he did not said a word about the escaping pod full of explasive materials part, what was worring Aphra a bit.

,,What?" The hunter asked not undertanding what Aphra was saying, maybe it was her vocabulary or the hunters cueless way of life but he really didn't understand what Aphra meant. Aphra rolled her eyes and tried to explain that a bit simpler for him.

,,If you were them. And you would see the escaping pod. Would you go see if I was in that pod or would you shoot the pod off, hoping that I wasn't in there?" Aphra asked when they walked to the Ark Angel cacpite. That still was an option that the bounty hunters won't care to catch the escaping pod and just will blow it up. Aphra have seen a lot people doing that, Hutts, Black Sun and Imperials too, why bounty hunters should be any different.

The hunter was left spechless after that question. For a moment, he was thinking really hard about something, like if he should answer that question or not. Like usually he always had some smart answer, that now he has no idea what to say. Finally he took a deep breath and said.

,,I would abord the pod, and die if there were bombs in there. Just like they will." The hunter said when he stood next to the pilote chair still poiting his blaster at Ahpra. That was a story behind it, Aphra could heard it in his voice, someone did that tick once, and someone he knew probably died in that trap. But if someone could say about Aphra at least one thing, it was this that she doesn't push when someone don't want to talk.

,,Sit." The hunter said to Aphra, showing her the pilote fotel instead of a chair and stuncuffs. That was something new, the hunter did not let her move a finger without his permission and now he was telling her to pilote the Ark Angel.

,,What?"Aphra asked, more confused than ever before she was. The hunter did not trust her to save his life without a blaster pushed into her heart and now he was giving her piloting the ship before a fight. Or was it a trap or the hunter has a mood switches.

,,There will be at least dozen ships with good pilots piloting them. You are more experienced pilot than BT-1 and for sure far better at dodge fighting than I am. Take the controls." The hunter said when he sat in the co-pilote fotel, pointing at the pilote foter with his blaster. The guy again was sounding more resonable than Aphra thought he could be.

,,Is that a compliment." Aphra asked, smiling a bit, when she sat in the pilote fotel and took the controls. The guy just admiret that Aphra is far better pilote than he is, what makes him smarter than Aphra thought before, but still not even half smart as she thought before Sleheyron.

,,It will be whatever you want to be if we survive." The hunter said, still pointing the blaster at Aphra, like she could possibly do now with Ark Angel beeing still in the hyperspace. The guy is a real paranoic, Aphra bet that he even sleep with a blaster under his pillow, that exactly would explaine how did he survive that long in the galaxy with his character.

,,Fly like you were not expecting anything. Let them hit you in the back, next play with them for a while, let them hit you few more times, then send the pod off and send them to hell." The hunter said to Aphra when they were almost at the end of the hyperway. Like she needed to be told what to do, but she Aphra did not try to push her luck and just waited for a moment to leave the huperspace.

After a minute or two, they flew out from the hyperspace and had Nal Hutta in front of them and Nar Shaddaa behind them. There was no starships around them and everyting was looking like there was no trap set up on them. Aphra slowly started to pilote Ark Angel like she was about to go to Nal Hutta and then somethig hit them in the back.

The hunter was right, there was at least six or seven heavly armored starcrafts waiting for them next to the urban moon, All of them were trying to hit the Ark Angel's engines and not to destroy any other part of the ship.

Aphra started the show and was dodging almost every blast the bounty hutners were shooting at her. Not many people remember ho good pilote she is, even she sometimes forget aobut that, she could be a really good smugler.

Without the ammunition Aphra couldn't shoot back at the bounty hunter's ships and she let them hit Ark Angel once. Twice. And trice. The third shoot demanged something in the back and the left engine was on fire. Aphra couln't think of better moemnt to send the escaping pod off and turn all systems off, making Ark Angel looking like abonded ship.

The plan sounded to work. The hunters ignored the Ark Angel and stopped the escaping pod using a hydrohooks they had. Then, all seven ships flied closer to the escaping pod and when the bigest ship aborder the pod, Aphr a pushed the button.

The explosion was impressive at least. Both Aphra and the hunter had to cover their eyes with their hands to see what was happening. Other six bounty hunters ships were too close to the first one and they all were exploding, one after another. The ships and all weapon they had make the serie of powerful explosion who could probably be seen from the darkest swamp on Nal Hutta.

,,Good job. Now in case somebody is still alive, fly like the ship was not working and land in a big city nearby when we will be on the orbite." The hunter said when the fire and explosions died down and they could see back. Aphra was about to refuse, but then she turned her head right and again saw a blaster pointed at her head. Not wanting to get stunned, Aphra did what the hunter said.

Short Time later. 30 minutes left to bring Doctor Aphra alive.

The Ark Angel was on one of the landing pod's in Nal Hutta city. The hunter bought a swamp speeder to transport Aphra deep into the swamp where Narra the Hutt was living in once her mother's palace. It is a long travel thought gloomy, dark and dangerous swamp.

The hunter was sitting on the speeder's chair riding the speeder though the swamp while Triple Zero and BT-1 get an order to watch doctor Aphra who was sitting handcuffed again on the speeder's bench. She wasn't fighting or trying to escape when they were leaving Ark Angel, or when they were looking for a speeder who could take all of them to Narra the Hutt's palace, and she was not trying to jump overboard now. Everyone on this planet is a criminal who won't help her for free and in the swamp is a lot of things who can kill her not caring about the bounty for her head.

After few moments of travel, Aphra could see the palace tower over the trees tops and she knows that they are close. Aphra was trying her best, but it was not enought this time. Who could guess that after all she have done and learn, the cause of her defeat will be a small explosive slave chip in her neck.

,,May I at least know how much she pay you for me?" Aphra asked after a longer moment of silence. She know that she pays him more than 250 000 credits. It has be a lot. Aphra have stolen this Hutts money and the rare technology, destroyed her ships and burned her fancy palace. Hutts were paying a lot for smaller things.

,,She will pays me one million credits if I will bring her corellian hound's killer." The hunter said smiling a bit while driving the speeder. He should not tell Aphra that, it was against the Creed and Guild's rules, but after everything he had been though, and everything what he did to and with Aphra he decided that she should know at least this.

,,She put a hit on my Because I killed her dog?" Aphra asked suprised, turnig her head to the hunter with eyes wide open. The palace, credis, ships, Aphra basically destroyed Narra's good name, and she is sending a bounty hunter because of one fat dog who Black Krrsantan wanted to kill and she let him do it?

,,Yep." The hunter chuckled simply with smile even wider than before. The look on Aphra face was priceless for him, until the black face tuned into a smile, then smile become a giggle, and the giggle become a loud, insane laugh.

Aphra was laughting so hard that her eyes were watering. Three days of being hunted like an animal, because of one dead dog. Aphra was saying that over and over in her head and could not stop the laugh. At first, the hunter was looking at her like at a madman, but after that he get her point and joined her in laughing, chuckling under his nose while driving the speeder.

They laught died down before they arrived to the Hutt's Palace, where a golden dressed twi'lek man was waiting for them with more less ten guantles pig guards. The hunter, Triple Zero Beetee and Aphra together get out of the speeder and were walking to them.

,,Mister wonderful to see you. Congratulations you are on time. Really impressive, one minute more and you would be late for****UGH!" The twi'lek was in the middle of flattering when the hunter walked closer and punched him in the stomach before the twi'lek could say anything more. The guard behind did not had a chance to stop him because the hunter pulled his blaster out at them before they could even touch their weapon.

,,The bounty hunters who you send after me almost killed me me one reason why shouldn't I kill you right now." The hunter asked, pushing his blaster into the golden twi'lek skull when he was kneeling on the ground holding his stomach. Looks like big bad bounty hunter is back. Aphra haven't seen him like that in a while, or the hunter has a problem with this twi'lek or with his species. Maybe both.

Anyway. The hunter was playing his role like a professional actor. Everybody, even these big strong pigs were shaking and scared like a little babies. The golden twi'lek probably wished to be somewhere else right now but he raised up from the ground and mumbled an answer.

,,Because...Great Narra the Hutt won't pay you if you kill me." The gold twi'lek finally said, lying to himself. Hutts never were caring about their servants, even if the servant was their right hand, the hunter could kill him here and still get the reward, probably.

,,I have something to say to your mistress. You can take the woman but leave the droids. They will kill anyone who will touch them." The hunter said to the gold twi'lek when he walked pass the guard into the place. If Aphra have learn anything about him, it is that he is careful and paranoic, he won't kill the twi'lek and risk any cuts from his bounty, what doens't make him any less dangerous or scary than he is. Just more predicable.

Two pig guard took Aphra by her sides and dragged her to the Palace dungenon, leaving Beetee and Triple Zero outside waiting for the hunter who was following the golden twi'lek to the throne room where Narra the Hutt was.

The throne room was large, wide, gloom, moise and empty hall. Perfect for a hutt, . The only things in there was an old fashion Hutt's throne who was under a wall on the opposite side of the room and electro gilotine in the middle of the hall

On that throne was sitting Great Narra the Hutt who was in a exelent mood. She have called all of her servants and guards to prepare Doctor Aphra's egecution, even now, two weequyas guardsmem were testing the electro guilorine by cutting in half a rock. Great Narra was hoping to make Doctor suffer before death, but tortures take times and money so beheading need to be enought. After all, she have to pay a ridiculous high price for the Doctor's head for really pissed off bounty hunter who was already standing in front of her throne.

,,Ah The bounty Hunter. How wonderful to see you. You come for your credits? Don't worry, Jixs already transfered them on your count." The Great Narra said smiling, almsot singing, to the gloomy bounty hunter who was watching her with blaster in his hand begging to be fired. Great Narra have noticed the hunter's face and blaster but she did not called guards.

,,Is there a problem?" The Great Narra asked, sounding less happy and more serious than a second before. That is not the first time when she is messing up with a bounty hunter, and she think it will not be her last time. Time will show if she is right or wrong.

,,The problem is. That you hired me to capture Doctor Chelli Lona Aphra and bring her to you. Did I even had a time to left your tower before you send the contract to other hunters!" The hunter asked raising his voice dangerously loudly and making the guards in the hall to turn around and surround him.

,,Oh. Were you expecting me to do nothing and not try to get a better price? You should have know by now that doulbe crossing is in the Hutt's nature."The Great Narra the Hutt have lost her prefectly good mood and again was in full crime lord mood. She did not said anything threating but the sound of blasters behind the hunter's back was telling more than any words.

The hunter got the clue. He was pushing his luck too far and the Hutt was losing her patience. He get his credits and there was no reason for him to stay on this cursed planet any longer. The hunter did not answered for that and simply turned around on his heel and was walking out of the hall. When he was about to open the gates, he turned to Narra the Hutt to tell her something.

,,I have info for you. When the war is over, the imperium will start again wiping the galaxy out of the allien scums, and you can be sure, that when hutts turn come, I will be the first one to take you down."The hunter threated, standing next to the doors, playing with fire in this very moment. The guards were about to shoot at him but Narra the Hutt raised her hand up and stopped them.

,,Well. In this case. I hope that your beloved imperium will lost." Narra The Hutt said to the hunter,clearny hitting his nerve spot.

,,Don't count on that. You don't know everything. It's not hope and nobility what wins wars, it's strategy, armies and vision. And the Empire has a vision, a vision of pure galaxy rule by humans with no cheap alien scums like you. That's why we will win this war, and why the Empire will rule the galaxy for the end of times."The huntter said, almost yelled that few sentences, sounding like he was in the Galaxtic Senate, talking to bunch of Imperials than in the Hutt's Palace talking to fat hutt and her criminal guards.

After the hunters speech, nobody said anything more. Nobody knew what to say or what to do, and the only sound in the great hall were quiet and small aplause from Narra the Hutt.

,,Bravo. That was very. Very inspiring. But as an imperial soldier, you probably know that no vision can happen without money, and hutts will survive, because the Empire alway will need hutt's money. You just proved it yourself by bringing that human shutta for few credits." Narra The Hutt explained stopping her aplaus, smilling sarcastically at the hunter, who was left speechless.

Narra the Hutt was right. The hunter was always talking over and over about the Empire, Imperial laws and Imperial vision. The hunter have been tought that the Empire was created to protect humans in the first place and to make them the rules of this Galaxy. And there he is, selling off one of his own kind, the kind he swered to protect, to a allien crime lord. There is a special word who describe the hunter now. Hypocrite. In this very moment, the former Death Trooper was nothing, but a hypocrite.

Narra the Hutt was watching the mental battle in the hunters head with amused smile on her face. She give him a moment to think about it, knowing that he will undertand how important Hutts are for the Empire, and this that half of this what he thought is nothig more than pretty words.

,,I don't like you mister. You are loud, aggressive and racist. But I'm in good mood so stay with me and watch the execution. Be my honor guest on tonight' feast. After that, go as far away from me as you can." The Great Narra The Hutt said to the hunter before she turned her attention back to the preparations, leaving the hunter with his own thoughts.

The bounty hunter did not give any answer to than. He was still thinking about everything what Narra the Hutt said before about the Empire and credits. The Empire always will need credits, and the Hutts have credits. There can't be any vision without credits. And the humans can't rule the Galaxy without credits. Who have credits, have the power to rule the Galaxy, and to make an Imperial special soldier to bring a human woman to her death.

The hunter have left the Palace still thinking about these thoughts. The credits rule this galaxy, and he just get half of a million credits. He doesn't have to be here anymore, he doesn't want to be on this planet anymore. The hunter can just take the droids, swamp speeder and fly to some Imperial world where he can do something nice for himself.

But first he need to call someone.

One hour later. The Narra's The Hutt Place's dungenon.

It is not the first cell Aphra have been in, but it for sure is one of the worst she have seen in her life, and she have seen a lot. It was not only the wet floor and walls, or darkness, or horrible smell, or rats, or even the freezing cold air in the room. The worst thing was it that the cell was too small for her, the cell was not having anything, there was enough place only to stand, or sit on the cold floor. Aphra is not too big so she have some space, but she can't think how an adult man or a wookie could possibly fit in there.

The cell have no window, no lights and no place to sit but Aphra was standing already for a while and she just had to sit down. The floor was wet with dirty water but there was a small place where Aphra could sit and not get wet, a really small place. She have to give it to the Hutts, they for sure know how to organize a prison.

Speaking of Hutts. Narra the Hutt was almost done with preparations and summonig her servants to watch Doctor Aphra egzecution. Aphra is betting that they will or shoot her in the back of her head or behead her, that's the classic Hutt's style of egzecution. Aphra also have heard some guard talking about a great feast after the egzecution, and guess what will be the main part of this? Doctor Aphra's corpse with onions. And who will eat that? Two young Corellian hounds. The guards called it poetic justice. Aphra called it rancorshit.

Well. It looks like it is her end. She was cheating the death many times but this time she is out of the ideas. At least she had interesting life. She is a doctor, maybe someone will write it on her tomb stone, if someon will care to buy her one. Aphra also has reason to be proud of herself, she was working with criminals, bandits, Empire, Darth Vader, and she survived all of it. She also have found few, antical old and unical things in he life. She have made some friedns...Who later become her enemies or person who wish her death. Yep, she her life maybe was not like her mother wanted to be for her, but it at least wasn't boring.

Before death, every person in the galaxy is asking themself one question. Will someone remember. Aphra is no difference. She also asked herself that question and she is pretty sure than someone will remember her. But no one will remember her as a doctor, or a friend, or someone who you would like to shake hands with, but as a crazy, cheating, lying, and selfish thief. Not like she can blame anyone for that, she earned that reputation.

Aphra thought were stopped by the sound of opening cell's doors. Two big weequyas took Aphra by her arms and were leading her thought the palace's corridors. They stopped in front of big and heavy gates who were leading to the throne hall.

The gates were opened from the inside and the first thing what Aphra get, were screams. The hall was full of different species people, who were all together, like one man, screaming, yelling and crying at Aphra, some of them were pushing or throwing some things at Aphra who was being still being lead to the gilotine in front of the throne where Narra the Hutt was stitting happy like a child. Next to the hutt's right was the golden twi'lek who Aphra saw in the docks, and behind him, in the shadow of the Hutt's throne, was standing the gloomy bounty hunter who have brought Ahpra her.

After a short while of being pushing from side to side, Aphra was standing in front of the electro gilotine, next to her sides were standing two big weequyas with force pikes who active the gilotine. Narra the Hutt raised her hand up and everybody in the room was quiet. Then, the golden twi'lek stand in front of the croud, with Narra the Hutt behind his back.

,,Ladies. Gentelmen. Loyal servants and others. Today, is the day. We celebrate Justice!" The golden twi'lek said loudly to the croud and everybody cheered loudly when he stopped. Aphra looked around herself to see if she could escape in anyway, but there was too many guards around, not to mention that almost everyone in the hall was having a blaster or two.

,,This woman! Is guildy of crimes agains our beloved mistress Narra the Hutt. The punishem for this, is death. By beheading!" The golden twi'lek said loudly and he again get a cheers from the croud. Or they really wanted to make this thing looking like a legal court than an orginary murder, or wanted to have show. Probably both knowing the Hutts and their minions,

,,But before it happens. Is there anyone who want to say something in 'Doctor' Aphra's defence?" The twi'lek asked, clearny mocking Aphra's title, and for the first time in a while he did not give any cheers. Instead of that, there was a sound, like someone was hitting the gates.

Somebody really was hitting the closed hall's gates. Really hard. The hits were getting louder and louder, but the gates were too heavy and strong to just be open with a single kick. So someone on the other side just blow the gates up. After the explosion, there was another sound, the most beautiful sound Aphra could heard today. It was a roar. A wookie roar. It was Black Krrsantan with Beetee and Triple Zero and more blasters than anyone in the room could count.

So the Force existe after all. Or maybe it's luck. Doesn't matter, what matter is this that Krrsantan and her droids will save Aphra one more time...

BANG!BANG!

Blaster shots. Aphra have heard two blaster shots. Both of them from behind. There was more than one person who could just shoot her in the back Aphra did not want to look back, or down, she was too afraid to move. But there was no pain, and she was feeling okay.

Aphra, slowly looked down at her chest, but there was no holes in her. She was still alive. What she can't say about two weequya guards who were lying on the floor with holes in their heads. Aphra and everybody else in the hall turned around to look at the throne side. They all saw a very scared golden twi'lek, shocked Hutt, and dark bounty hunter, who just shot out two guard's brains.

,,KILL THEM ALL!" The hunter yelled as loud as he could and shoot at the croud of suprised criminals before someone could wake up from the shock and shoot to him.

Three words. Only three simple words. It was all what Black Krrsantan, Beetee and Triple Zero needed to start hell of blaster bolts, rockets, fire and death. Krrsantan jumped into the croud and was fighting like he always do. Ripping hands, crushing skulls, and breaking bones, when Beetee and Triple Zero were standing in the gates, shooting and killing everybody in the hall. And Beetee could not be more happy than now.

,,Of please. You like everyone who gives you this order. Shut up and keep shooting." Triple Zero said to BT-1 after the astromech said his new opinion about the hunter. True to be told, Beetee really like anyone who let him kill so many people like now, but it's not offten when he is killing so many people.

Speaking of the devil. The hunter also was not complaining of lack of action. The guy literally jumped into the crown and blasted himself a way to Aphra leaving dead bodies behind him. He blasted the handcuffs out of Aphra's hands, giver her a blaster and pushed her behind the throne where she was pretty much save.

The hunter should have stayed with Aphra behid the throne and wait for the fight to end, but it was not his style. He was a Death Trooper, and Death Troopers never advoid any fights, he have the blaster bolts taken in the chest and still fighting style. And so he run back into the heat of battle. But Aphra couldn't call it a battle. It was slaughte.

Black Krrsantan, BT-1 and Triple Zero were already enought to kill everyone in the room, they did not need any help, but it didn't stop the hunter in killing at least half of the guys who were left in the hall. And as was said before, he was taking every hit and blaster bolt who was shot at him in the chest, and was fighting foward.

It took them maybe five minutes, but everybody was dead. Expet of Aphra, Krrsantan, and the hunter of course. Krrsantan and the hunter were standing in front of each other, surrounded by the corpses around them and were facing each other. It's not everyday when Aphra see someone stupid enought, and tall enought, to look Black Krrsantan in the eyes, listen to what he said and not be scared.

,,I don't know what you just said. But I don't like the tone of your voice. Beast." The hunter said to Krrsantan, pushing his luck too far, and getting hit in the stomach for that. The guy for sure is brave and have guts, but he could use more brain, and choose his words a bit more wisely when he is talking to a wookie.

,,He said that he will kill you if you will try to poison him again. Sir." Triple Zero translated what Black Krrsantan said to the hunter who was currently kneeling on the floor, holding his stomach after the Black Krrsantan's punch. The Black Krrsantan did not forget about the hangover he've had not so long ago and was still pissed about it, but that punch pretty much make the score even.

But that was not over yet. Everyone in the hall was dead but there was two missing persons. The hutt who started all of this was not among the death and was nowhere to be found. As long as she was alive, Aphra will not be save and they all know it. Lucky, Aphra have found a tunnel behind the throne who could lead to only one place.

Few moments later. The Dock's outside.

,,Wait for me Jixs! I command you to wait for me!" The Great Narra the Hutt yelled at her loyal twi'lek servant who was already sitting in a swamp speeder and was about to get the hell out of here.

When the fight in the throne hall started, Narra the hutt used her secret tunnel to leave the palace with her golden advisor who was running much faster than his fat mistress and was not going to wait for her.

And so the right hand of Narra the Hutt have abonded her, riding the swamp speeder too fast to even look behind and say his resignation from the job. Narra the Hutt said a few loud and very offensive things about the twilek and his mother, then she saw one more free swamp speeder and tried to run to it, but she was stopped by the sound of blasters from the tunnel.

In the tunnel, Narra the hutt saw two humans, two droids and one big black wookie. All four with blasters or other kind of weapon, and with faces who were saying that it is not Narra's lucky day.x

,,You...You Traitor! You brought these animals in here." The Great narra the Hutt yelled at the hunter who did not give a kriff about what she was saying. The hunter looked at Aphra, who just smiled and moved out of the hunter's way, knowing what he was about to do.

,,W...What are you doin? You.. You can't kill me! If you kill me my...My men will kill you! All of you. You will die."Narra the hutt was screaming in panic, trying her best to stop the hunter who was coming closer and closer to her with a blaster in his hand.

,,Ladies first*BANG*." The hunter said and shot the Narra the Hutt in the face. Then he shot one more time, and then three more times in the fat corpse's stomach. The guy really have a problem with the temper.

It was finally over. The hutt was dead, the bounty was canceled, but there was one more thing. The hunter who was chasing Aphra like an animal for almost three day by now was not standing at the end of the dock, with his back turned to Aphra and Black Krrsantan who also don't like the guy.

Krrsantan was already aiming for the hunter's back with his bowcast but he was stopped by Aphra. She have promised herself that the hunter will pay her for everything what he have done to her, at the end, he called Krrsantan and come back to save her. For no reason at all, he have got his credits and could just leave. But he come back, and Aphra had to know why.

,,*You could leave me stranded. Why did you come back?" Aphra asked the hunter who was still turned back to her. It is the perfect time to shoot him, and Aphra need only to heard his answer. No one is doing nothing for free, the hunter is not an exception, she have to know why.

,,Because I owe you. For the eye, and your arm." The hunter said, and Aphra got it. That trued, he really owe her a great deal. Aphra not only did save his life, she did it twice, and give him his right eye back.

She shot the IG-88 off saving the hunter's life, helped him with the blade in his eye, and without her he would die in the space on the planet's orbite. And there is also the thing he did to her arm. Yep. This guy owe Aphra a big deal. And she can use it in the future. During these two day, the hunter have proofed himself being usefull, and it's good to have a give like him in dept.

That, was a reason why Aphra decided to not shoot the hunter in the back right now. Killing him would be too simple, too easy, there is far more and worse things that Aphra can do to him. Maybe not now, not tomarrow, but someday.

,,The chip is not active anymore. Take the droids with you. And don't worry about your ship. I left it with probably the only person in the galaxy who don't want to steal or kill you." The hunter said taking his wrist gauntlets off, throwed it on the ground and stepped on it, shutting the thing down, making Aphra free again.

And after that, he was staring at the dark swamp of Nal Hutta, where death was waiting for him under every rock and every tree. Aphra was sure that he will turn around, or look back around his soulder to end their insane relationship and andventure in that one simple look who will say goodbye. But he never did that. He just started to walk, into the swamp leaving the last swamp speeder for Aphra, droids and Black Krrsantan. And in that moment Aphra knew. He did not said goodbye, because they will meet again. After all, he still owes her and the swamp is not enought to kill him after surving two days with Aphra as his prisoner.

Black Krrsantan took Aphra Triple Zero and Beetee from the palace on the last swamp speeder left in the dock, riding to the town where Ark Angel was left. They had no problem in finding Ark Angel, but Aphra was still asking herself a question who would be waiting for her there. The hunter said that it is the only person in the galaxy who don't want to kill her or steal anything from her. Aphra had no idea who that would, when he heard a voice she was never expecting to hear.

It looks like you are again in trouble Chelli.

DAD!' That son of b**** he called Aphra's father.

And after that, he was staring at the dark swamp of Nal Hutta, where death was waiting for him under every rock and every tree. Aphra was sure that he will turn around, or look back around his soulder to end their insane relationship and andventure in that one simple look who will saygood bye. But he never did that. He just started to walk, into the swamp, and in that moment Aphra knew. He did not said goodbye, because they will meet again. After all, he still owes her a drink he stolen.

Black Krrsantan took Aphra Triple Zero and Beetee from the palace on a swamp speeder. They found Ark Angel easly, but Aphra was still asking herself a question who would be waiting for her there. The hunter said that it is the only person in the galaxy who don't want to kill her or steal anything from her. Aphra could think who it would be, when he heard a voice she was never expecting to hear.

,,I see you are again in trouble Chelli." An very, even too familiar male voice who Aphra was never expecting to heard on Nal Hutta said from the Ark Angel's platform. And there was only one person in the halaxy, in the universe who who calls Aphra like that.

,,DAD!" Aphra yelled in a suprise not beliving her own eyes. That son of a b*** called her father to help her. She should have shoot the hunter in the back when she had a chance.

,,What are you doing here!?" Aphra asked a bit louder that necessary when her father walked closer to her with a serious look on his face. It was about to be another of their reunions, and they never are nice to ant of them.

,,Some man called and told me that you have been caught by bounty hunters and sold to Hutts. How could you expect me to just sit and do nothing when my daughter is a slave. I found Black Krrsantan and we together come to save you." Aphra's father said giving Aphra a parenting look and leading her to Ark Angel, sending her a sterny look all the way in. They stopped in the common room where Aphra sat on a chair and her father come bakc to her with a stange machine in his hand.

,,Okay Chelli. Stay still." Aphra's dad said when he walked behind his daughter and was trying to do something with her neck but Aphra moved away from him when she felt a cold metal thing on her neck.

,,What are you doing!?'' Aphra asked again louder than she needed when she was trying to escape from the chair but her father stopped her and make her stay still when he was moving a strange machine on the back of her neck.

,,I need to remove the chip from your neck. Don't move, it won't hurt." Aphra's father said when he was looking for the slave chip in his daughter's neck flesh. He may be a doctor, but he is not that kind of doctor and Aphra was completly right to not trust him, but it was too late for her to say that.

Dad said that it won't hurt, but it hurted, a lot, and Aphra's scream could be probably heard on Nar Shaddaa. She have no idea what her dad was doing with her neck or how to use this thing he was using to remove the chip from her neck, but she is sure that he did it wrong.

,,Easy. It's done. Now. Tell me. Who was this man who called me and how did he know so much about you?" The Aphra's dad asked when he removed the machine from the Aphra's neck and turned his attention back to asking about Aphra's life and in what problems she was in this time.

Yep. Aphra definitly is going to meet that bounty hunter again, and he will pay her for this.

THE END.

 **Wow! That was a long one wan't it? Soo.. If you are reading this you probably already know that I like this Doctor Aphra really much right? I don't know how, but I had this story in my head and I just could not stop thinking about this idea. It literally forced me to write this, that was not giving me sleep. But first things first. English is not my fist launguage and I'm sorry for all errors and mistakes. Sorry if you don't like my story but as I always say 'Don't like. Don't read. Be happy.' And sorry for the new characters I made up for the story. It just did not feel right to me to use only cannon and official characters, it's like stealing and trying too hard. I don't own anything from Star Wars, but hey. Saying it makes me sleep good...well better than usuall.**

 **Now I want to explain the bounty hunter character I created in this story so stop reading in this moment if you don't give a sh*t about it.**

 **The Bounty Hunter/'Hunter'/Krig Armorigen- Who was an inspiration for this guy? You are right. John Rambo. I still remeber this guys like Rambo, Hercules, Rocky, Chuck Norris, Terminator, Clint Eastwood and others of their kind. His origin is also similar if you haven't notice, I just made him more typical imperial like soldier. Hate me for this if you want but I think that Imperial soldiers should be a racist, untolerant, brutal for alliens, bastards. And tought space police offciers for humans, you know, just like nazists. They have families too, they can't all be monsters, just like they can't all be losers. I was thinking about writing this story with Boba Fett. But if I would, the story would be short, because Boba Fett is too badass and too smart to take Aphra alive.**

 **I was watching the Rouge One, and I couldn't get enought of the death troopers, I have read everything about them but I could not find any Death Trooper character in the comics, so I made up my own Death Trooper character. But does anyone get my joke? A nerf is star war's version of a cow, and Aphra is star war's version of Indiana Jones. And Rambo was a cowboy, and my guy is a nerfboy*read in StarWars*cowboy. So this story is basicly Indiana Jones vs Rambo/cowboy. Yeah I was trying to write this story like a wester but I'm not sure if it is actually any kind of wester, but after seeing Cade Bane's hat I just knew that there were some cowboys or gunslingers so I had to try.**

 **And I was in westers mood from some time, I know that there was not really anything about cowboy and their hats in my story but my title is telling everthing. For the recod. I want just explain who is who like it was in last minutes of the movie.**

 **The Slimy- Kriege Armorigem (Bounty Hunter/Former Death Trooper). The Bad- Doctor Aphra (We all know her). And The Good-Great Narra the Hutt.( Also my character-It couldn't be Jabba-/She was the character who did the less eveil in the story.)**

 **Good luck with your readings and May the good old fashion wild west be with you.**


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